title: mof, a putative acetyl transferase gene related to the Tip60 and MOZ human genes and to the SAS genes of yeast, is required for dosage compensation in Drosophila.
abstract: Dosage compensation is a regulatory process that insures that males and females have equal amounts of X-chromosome gene products. In Drosophila, this is achieved by a 2-fold enhancement of X-linked gene transcription in males, relative to females. The enhancement of transcription is mediated by the activity of a group of regulatory genes characterized by the male-specific lethality of their loss-of-function alleles. The products of these genes form a complex that is preferentially associated with numerous sites on the X chromosome in somatic cells of males but not of females. Binding of the dosage compensation complex is correlated with a significant increase in the presence of a specific histone isoform, histone 4 acetylated at Lys16, on this chromosome. Experimental results and sequence analysis suggest that an additional gene, males-absent on the first (mof), encodes a putative acetyl transferase that plays a direct role in the specific histone acetylation associated with dosage compensation. The predicted amino acid sequence of MOF exhibits a significant level of similarity to several other proteins, including the human HIV-1 Tat interactive protein Tip60, the human monocytic leukemia zinc finger protein MOZ and the yeast silencing proteins SAS3 and SAS2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hilfiker
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hilfiker-Kleiner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pannuti
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lucchesi
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D052138:Genes, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases; D006801:Humans; D000074443:Lysine Acetyltransferase 5; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D059470:Tetraspanins; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C086385:TSPAN31 protein, human; D059470:Tetraspanins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C082132:msl-1 protein, Drosophila; C094166:msl-2 protein, Drosophila; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D051548:Histone Acetyltransferases; C098489:KAT5 protein, human; C496552:KAT8 protein, human; D000074443:Lysine Acetyltransferase 5; C111063:mof protein, Drosophila