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

J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 15, 15339-15347, April 9, 2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 279/15/15339    most recent M310731200v1 Submit a Letter to Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted 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 Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Walker, A. K. Articles by Blackwell, T. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Walker, A. K. Articles by Blackwell, T. K. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

An Extensive Requirement for Transcription Factor IID-specific TAF-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans Embryonic Transcription^*

Amy K. Walker, Yang Shi, and T. Keith Blackwell¶

From the Section of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Joslin Diabetes Center, and the Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

The general transcription factor TFIID sets the mRNA start site and consists of TATA-binding protein and associated factors (TAF_IIs), some of which are also present in SPT-ADA-GCN5 (SAGA)-related complexes. In yeast, results of multiple studies indicate that TFIID-specific TAF_IIs are not required for the transcription of most genes, implying that intact TFIID may have a surprisingly specialized role in transcription. Relatively little is known about how TAF_IIs contribute to metazoan transcription in vivo, especially at developmental and tissue-specific genes. Previously, we investigated functions of four shared TFIID/SAGA TAF_IIs in Caenorhabditis elegans. Whereas TAF-4 was required for essentially all embryonic transcription, TAF-5, TAF-9, and TAF-10 were dispensable at multiple developmental and other metazoan-specific promoters. Here we show evidence that in C. elegans embryos transcription of most genes requires TFIID-specific TAF-1. TAF-1 is not as universally required as TAF-4, but it is essential for a greater proportion of transcription than TAF-5, -9, or -10 and is important for transcription of many developmental and other metazoan-specific genes. TAF-2, which binds core promoters with TAF-1, appears to be required for a similarly substantial proportion of transcription. C. elegans TAF-1 overlaps functionally with the coactivator p300/CBP (CBP-1), and at some genes it is required along with the TBP-like protein TLF(TRF2). We conclude that during C. elegans embryogenesis TAF-1 and TFIID have broad roles in transcription and development and that TFIID and TLF may act together at certain promoters. Our findings imply that in metazoans TFIID may be of widespread importance for transcription and for expression of tissue-specific genes.

Received for publication, September 29, 2003 , and in revised form, January 13, 2004.

^* This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (to T. K. B. and Y. S.) and the March of Dimes (to T. K. B.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

^¶ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Section of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Joslin Diabetes Center, One Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02115. Tel.: 617-919-2769; Fax: 617-730-0023; E-mail: keith.blackwell{at}joslin.harvard.edu.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?