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Sequence-specific DNA-binding activities of the gap proteins encoded by hunchback and Krüppel in Drosophila

Nature volume 341, pages 331–335 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

THE segmentation of the Drosophila body plan depends on a hierarchy of interactions among ˜20–25 regulatory genes that are active in the early embryo (refs 1–4; for a review see ref. 5). The gap genes have a key role in this process and are responsible for the periodic expression of certain pair-rule genes6–8 and the localized expression of several homoeotic genes9–11. The two best characterized gap genes, hunchback (hb) and Krüppel (Kr) contain homologies with the zinc-finger DNA-binding motif12,13, although their mode of action in the early embryo is unknown. Here we report that both of the proteins encoded by these genes possess sequence-specific DNA-binding activities, which indicates that they might regulate gene expression at the level of transcription. The binding sites of the hb gene product are related by a 10-base pair (bp) consensus sequence, G/AC/CTAAAAAA, whereas the binding sites of the Kr gene product share a distinct 10-bp motif, AACGGGTTAA. It is possible that the hb and Kr proteins cooperatively regulate gene expression, because they are expressed in broad, overlapping gradients in the early embryo. We also provide evidence that the on/off periodicity of the pair-rule gene even-skipped (eve) 14,15 involves the interaction of the hb and Kr proteins with defined eve promoter elements16,17.

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  1. Timothy Hoey

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Fairchild Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, USA

    Dusan Štanojević, Timothy Hoey & Michael Levine

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  1. Dusan Štanojević
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Štanojević, D., Hoey, T. & Levine, M. Sequence-specific DNA-binding activities of the gap proteins encoded by hunchback and Krüppel in Drosophila. Nature 341, 331–335 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341331a0

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