title: Characterization of putative cis-regulatory elements in genes preferentially expressed in Arabidopsis male meiocytes.
abstract: Meiosis is essential for plant reproduction because it is the process during which homologous chromosome pairing, synapsis, and meiotic recombination occur. The meiotic transcriptome is difficult to investigate because of the size of meiocytes and the confines of anther lobes. The recent development of isolation techniques has enabled the characterization of transcriptional profiles in male meiocytes of Arabidopsis. Gene expression in male meiocytes shows unique features. The direct interaction of transcription factors (TFs) with DNA regulatory sequences forms the basis for the specificity of transcriptional regulation. Here, we identified putative cis-regulatory elements (CREs) associated with male meiocyte-expressed genes using in silico tools. The upstream regions (1 kb) of the top 50 genes preferentially expressed in Arabidopsis meiocytes possessed conserved motifs. These motifs are putative binding sites of TFs, some of which share common functions, such as roles in cell division. In combination with cell-type-specific analysis, our findings could be a substantial aid for the identification and experimental verification of the protein-DNA interactions for the specific TFs that drive gene expression in meiocytes.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, China.
authors.forename: Junhua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9360-1002
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, China ; Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Jinhong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0937-2938
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, China.
authors.forename: Mingjun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D055993:Germ Cells, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D050436:Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics