Abstract
The 'cysteine-zinc DNA binding finger' is a recently identified sequence motif that is present in a wide variety of transcriptional regulatory proteins and is thought to be directly involved in DNA binding1. It has been proposed that an essential component of this structure is a zinc ion bound between two pairs of cysteine residues. The GAL4-encoded protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which binds to DNA and activates the transcription of several genes, contains this sequence motif. Here I describe a gal4 mutant with an alteration in the cysteine-zinc DNA binding finger whose defect is corrected in vivo by high concentrations of ZnCl2. The DNA binding activity of the altered protein from this mutant is restored by ZnCl2 in vitro. This is evidence that the GAL4 protein indeed contains zinc ions essential for its DNA binding activity.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
1. Berg, J. Science 232, 485–487 (1986). 2. Ginsberg, A. M., King, B. O. & Roeder, R. G. Cell 39, 479–489 (1984). 3. Miller, J., McLachlan, A. D. & Klug, A. EMBO J. 4, 1609–1614 (1985). 4. Laughon, A. & Gesteland, R. F. Molec. cell. Biol. 4, 260–267 (1984). 5. Salmeron, J. M. Jr & Johnston, S. A. Nucleic Acids Res. 14, 7767–7781 (1986). 6. Kammerer, B., Guyonvarch, A. & Hubert, J. C. J. molec. Biol 180, 239–250 (1984). 7. Messenguy, R., Dubois, E. & Descamps, F. Eur. J. Biochem. 157, 77–81 (1986). 8. Baum, J. A., Geever, R. & Giles, N. H. Molec. cell. Biol. 7, 1256–1266 (1987). 9. Johnston, M. & Dover, J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 2401 (1987). 10. Riggs, A. D., Suzuki, H. & Bourgeois, S. /. molec. Biol. 48, 67–83 (1970). 11. Johnston, M. & Davis, R. W. Molec. cell. Biol. 4, 1440–1448 (1984). 12. Bradford, M. M. Analyt. Biochem. 72, 248–254 (1976). 13. Bram, R. & Kornberg, R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 43–47 (1985). 14. Giniger, E., Varnum, S. & Ptashne, M. Cell 40, 767–774 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johnston, M. Genetic evidence that zinc is an essential co-factor in the DNA binding domain of GAL4 protein. Nature 328, 353–355 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328353a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/328353a0
This article is cited by
-
Solution Equilibria of Binary and Ternary Complexes Involving Zinc(II) with 2,6-Diaminopyridine and Various Biologically Relevant Ligands
Journal of Solution Chemistry (2015)
-
Complex regulation of hydrolytic enzyme genes for cellulosic biomass degradation in filamentous fungi
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2014)
-
Synthesis and characterization of mixed ligand complexes of Zn(II) and Co(II) with amino acids: Relevance to zinc binding sites in zinc fingers
Journal of Chemical Sciences (2005)
-
Can Co(II) or Cd(II) substitute for Zn(II) in zinc fingers?
Journal of Chemical Sciences (2001)
-
Zink — Update eines essentiellen Spurenelements
Zeitschrift für Ernährungswissenschaft (1996)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
