SuUR protein binds to the boundary regions separating forum domains in Drosophila melanogaster.
Forum domains are 50-150 kb DNA fragments that are released during spontaneous fragmentation of chromosomes. They are separated by islands of putative heterochromatin boundary regions. The SuUR protein, which is involved in the control of chromosome organization, is localized exclusively in heterochromatin and often colocalizes on chromosomes with Polycomb group proteins. To test whether the SuUR protein is associated with boundary regions, we used gel retardation assays and found that the SuUR protein binds specifically to boundary regions and that boundary regions are under-replicated. These results suggest that the regular distribution of boundary regions in chromosomes may represent the dispersion of sites designed for chromosomal silencing.
Tchurikov
Nickolai A
NA
Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Department of Genome Organization, Vavilov Street 32, Moscow 119991, Russia. tchurikov@eimb.ru
Kretova
Olga V
OV
Chernov
Boris K
BK
Golova
Yulia B
YB
Zhimulev
Igor F
IF
Zykov
Ivan A
IA
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C464850:SuUR protein, Drosophila