In silico identification of putative regulatory sequence elements in the 5'-untranslated region of genes that are expressed during male gametogenesis.
During pollen development, transcription of a large number of genes results in the appearance of distinct sets of transcripts. Similar mRNA sets are present in pollen of both mono- and dicotyledonous plant species, which indicates an evolutionary conservation of genetic programs that determine pollen gene expression. In pollen, regulation of gene expression occurs at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional level. The 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of several pollen transcripts has been shown to be important for regulation of pollen gene expression. The important regulatory role of 5'-UTR sequences and the evolutionary conservation of genetic programs in pollen led to the hypothesis that the 5'-UTRs of pollen-expressed genes share regulatory sequence elements. In an attempt to identify these pollen 5'-UTR elements, a statistical analysis was performed using 5'-UTR sequences of pollen- and sporophytic-expressed genes. The analysis revealed the presence of several pollen-specific 5'-UTR sequence elements. Assembly of the pollen 5'-UTR elements led to the identification of various consensus sequences, including those that previously have been demonstrated to play a role in the regulation of pollen gene expression. Several pollen 5'-UTR elements were found to be preferentially associated to genes from dicots, wet-type stigma plants, or plants containing bicellular pollen. Moreover, three sequence elements exhibited a preferential association to the 5'-UTR of pollen-expressed genes from Arabidopsis and Brassica napus. Functional implications of these observations are discussed.
Catholic University Nijmegen, Department of Experimental Botany, Plant Genetics, Toernooiveld 1, The Netherlands.
Raymond Jozef Maurinus
RJ
Hulzink
Han
H
Weerdesteyn
Anton Felix
AF
Croes
Tom
T
Gerats
Marinus Maria Antonius
MM
van Herpen
Jacques
J
van Helden
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements