A molecular link between gene-specific and chromosome-wide transcriptional repression.
Gene-specific and chromosome-wide mechanisms of transcriptional regulation control development in multicellular organisms. SDC-2, the determinant of hermaphrodite fate in Caenorhabditis elegans, is a paradigm for both modes of regulation. SDC-2 represses transcription of X chromosomes to achieve dosage compensation, and it also represses the male sex-determination gene her-1 to elicit hermaphrodite differentiation. We show here that SDC-2 recruits the entire dosage compensation complex to her-1, directing this X-chromosome repression machinery to silence an individual, autosomal gene. Functional dissection of her-1 in vivo revealed DNA recognition elements required for SDC-2 binding, recruitment of the dosage compensation complex, and transcriptional repression. Elements within her-1 differed in location, sequence, and strength of repression, implying that the dosage compensation complex may regulate transcription along the X chromosome using diverse recognition elements that play distinct roles in repression.
Chu
Diana S
DS
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3204, USA.
Dawes
Heather E
HE
Lieb
Jason D
JD
Chan
Raymond C
RC
Kuo
Annie F
AF
Meyer
Barbara J
BJ
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010641:Phenotype; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011485:Protein Binding; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014960:X Chromosome
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002843:Chromatin; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C079744:her-1 protein, C elegans; D004247:DNA