Completion of meiosis in Drosophila oocytes requires transcriptional control by grauzone, a new zinc finger protein.
Mutations in grauzone or cortex cause abnormal arrest in Drosophila female meiosis. We cloned grauzone and identified it as a C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factor. The grauzone transcript is present in ovaries and at later developmental stages. A Grauzone-GFP fusion protein is functional and localizes to nuclei of both nurse cells and follicle cells during oogenesis. Three lines of evidence indicate that grauzone and cortex interact: reducing cortex function enhanced the grauzone mutant phenotype; cortex transcript abundance is reduced in the absence of grauzone function and Grauzone protein binds to the cortex promoter. These results demonstrate that activation of cortex transcription by grauzone is necessary for the completion of meiosis in Drosophila oocytes, and establish a new pathway that specifically regulates the female meiotic cell cycle.
Chen
B
B
Department of Pharmacology, Programs in Genetics and Molecular & Cellular Biology, University at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8651, USA.
Harms
E
E
Chu
T
T
Henrion
G
G
Strickland
S
S
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017344:Genes, Insect; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008540:Meiosis; D009154:Mutation; D009865:Oocytes / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009866:Oogenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
D017931:DNA Primers; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C406415:grau protein, Drosophila; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins