Cloning and characterization of dRFX, the Drosophila member of the RFX family of transcription factors.
The RFX family of transcription factors is characterized by a unique DNA binding domain. Five genes have been isolated in mammals, one gene in Caenorhabditis elegans and in the yeasts Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Whereas the roles of the RFX genes are beginning to be understood in yeasts, no clear function has been reported in multicellular organisms, except for RFX5, the most divergent member of the family. To study the physiological role of RFX transcription factors using an alternative multicellular model, we report the isolation and characterization of the Drosophila RFX gene (dRFX). The fruit fly protein shares highly conserved domains with the mammalian factors RFX1 to 3 and is more closely related to this subgroup. It binds DNA with the same target specificity as mammalian factors RFX1 to 3. dRFX is located on chromosome III and we characterized the entire locus. dRFX expression was analyzed during embryogenesis. dRFX mRNAs are detected only in the peripheral nervous system and in the brain of the embryo.
Durand
B
B
Centre de Génétique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS-UMR 5534, Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, 43 Bvd du 11 novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne, France. durand-b@cismsun.univ-lyon1.fr
Vandaele
C
C
Spencer
D
D
Pantalacci
S
S
Couble
P
P
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005091:Exons; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014714:Vertebrates
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors