title: Expression of zinc transporter family genes in Dictyostelium.
abstract: Regulation of the zinc ion concentration is physiologically important to control the activities of a variety of cellular molecules. A BLAST search against a conserved domain of known zinc transporters identified twelve putative zinc transporter family genes in the Dictyostelium genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of three zinc transporter subfamilies in Dictyostelium. One subfamily of proteins, consisting of the ZntA-D proteins, has weak homology to the STAT3-inducible LIV-1 protein. In addition, in situ hybridization revealed that the zntA-D genes are expressed in the pstAB cells, this expression being absent in the Dd-STATa null mutant. Thus, Dd-STATa may control stalk cell differentiation through some members of the zinc transporter family genes during Dictyostelium development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Toho University, Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sunaga
authors.forename: Meri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monna
authors.forename: Nao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Takefumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawata
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C017800:zinc-binding protein