title: BzpF is a CREB-like transcription factor that regulates spore maturation and stability in Dictyostelium.
abstract: The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a highly conserved transcription factor that integrates signaling through the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) in many eukaryotes. PKA plays a critical role in Dictyostelium development but no CREB homologue has been identified in this system. Here we show that Dictyostelium utilizes a CREB-like protein, BzpF, to integrate PKA signaling during late development. bzpF(-) mutants produce compromised spores, which are extremely unstable and germination defective. Previously, we have found that BzpF binds the canonical CRE motif in vitro. In this paper, we determined the DNA binding specificity of BzpF using protein binding microarray (PBM) and showed that the motif with the highest specificity is a CRE-like sequence. BzpF is necessary to activate the transcription of at least 15 PKA-regulated, late-developmental target genes whose promoters contain BzpF binding motifs. BzpF is sufficient to activate two of these genes. The comparison of RNA sequencing data between wild type and bzpF(-) mutant revealed that the mutant fails to express 205 genes, many of which encode cellulose-binding and sugar-binding proteins. We propose that BzpF is a CREB-like transcription factor that regulates spore maturation and stability in a PKA-related manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Eryong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shaheynoor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Talukder
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Tomaz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Curk
authors.forename: Blaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zupan
authors.forename: Gad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shaulsky
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katoh-Kurasawa
mesh_terms: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000502:physiology*; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D033761:Spores, Protozoan / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D017931:DNA Primers; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases