Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access published online on January 12, 2009
Nucleic Acids Research, doi:10.1093/nar/gkn1065
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Molecular Biology |
A highly conserved cis-regulatory motif directs differential gonadal synexpression of Dmrt1 transcripts during gonad development
1Physiological Chemistry I, University of Würzburg, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany, 2Laboratory of Molecular Genetics for Reproduction, National Institute for Basic Biology 5-1, Higashiyama, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan and 3Rudolf-Virchow-Center for Experimental Biomedicine (DFG Research Center), University of Würzburg, D-97078 Würzburg, Germany
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: amaury.herpin{at}biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de Correspondence may also be addressed to Minoru Tanaka. Tel/Fax: +81 564 59 5851; Email: mtanaka{at}nibb.ac.jp
Received November 17, 2008. Revised December 16, 2008. Accepted December 18, 2008.
Differential gene expression largely accounts for the coordinated manifestation of the genetic programme underlying embryonic development and cell differentiation. The 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of eukaryotic genes can contain motifs involved in regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In the 3'-UTR of dmrt1, a key gene that functions in gonad development and differentiation, an 11-bp protein-binding motif was identified that mediates gonad-specific mRNA localization during embryonic and larval development of fish. Mutations that disrupt the 11-bp motif leading to in vitro protein-binding loss and selective transcript stabilization failure indicate a role for this motif in RNA stabilization through protein binding. The sequence motif was found to be conserved in most of the dmrt1 homologous genes from flies to humans suggesting a widespread conservation of this specific mechanism.