HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 276, Issue 34, 31786-31792, August 24, 2001

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 276/34/31786    most recent M101273200v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McNamara-Schroeder, K. J. Articles by Stumph, W. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by McNamara-Schroeder, K. J. Articles by Stumph, W. E.

The Drosophila U1 and U6 Gene Proximal Sequence Elements Act as Important Determinants of the RNA Polymerase Specificity of Small Nuclear RNA Gene Promoters in Vitro and in Vivo^*

Kathleen J. McNamara-Schroeder, Roger F. Hennessey, Gale A. Harding, Richard C. Jensen, and William E. Stumph^§

From the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-1030

Transcription of genes coding for metazoan spliceosomal snRNAs by RNA polymerase II (U1, U2, U4, U5) or RNA polymerase III (U6) is dependent upon a unique, positionally conserved regulatory element referred to as the proximal sequence element (PSE). Previous studies in the organism Drosophila melanogaster indicated that as few as three nucleotide differences in the sequences of the U1 and U6 PSEs can play a decisive role in recruiting the different RNA polymerases to transcribe the U1 and U6 snRNA genes in vitro. Those studies utilized constructs that contained only the minimal promoter elements of the U1 and U6 genes in an artificial context. To overcome the limitations of those earlier studies, we have now performed experiments that demonstrate that the Drosophila U1 and U6 PSEs have functionally distinct properties even in the environment of the natural U1 and U6 gene 5'-flanking DNAs. Moreover, assays in cells and in transgenic flies indicate that expression of genes from promoters that contain the "incorrect" PSE is suppressed in vivo. The Drosophila U6 PSE is incapable of recruiting RNA polymerase II to initiate transcription from the U1 promoter region, and the U1 PSE is unable to recruit RNA polymerase III to transcribe the U6 gene.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Hernandez Jr, F. Valafar, and W. E. Stumph Insect small nuclear RNA gene promoters evolve rapidly yet retain conserved features involved in determining promoter activity and RNA polymerase specificity Nucleic Acids Res., January 12, 2007; 35(1): 21 - 34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H.-T. Lai, H. Chen, C. Li, K. J. McNamara-Schroeder, and W. E. Stumph The PSEA promoter element of the Drosophila U1 snRNA gene is sufficient to bring DmSNAPc into contact with 20 base pairs of downstream DNA Nucleic Acids Res., November 27, 2005; 33(20): 6579 - 6586. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Li, G. A. Harding, J. Parise, K. J. McNamara-Schroeder, and W. E. Stumph Architectural Arrangement of Cloned Proximal Sequence Element-Binding Protein Subunits on Drosophila U1 and U6 snRNA Gene Promoters Mol. Cell. Biol., March 1, 2004; 24(5): 1897 - 1906. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Dominski, X.-c. Yang, M. Purdy, and W. F. Marzluff Cloning and characterization of the Drosophila U7 small nuclear RNA PNAS, August 5, 2003; 100(16): 9422 - 9427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]