Regulation of the bacterio-opsin gene of a halophilic archaebacterium

1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Betlach ◽  
Richard F. Shand ◽  
Diane M. Leong

The protein bacterio-opsin, complexed with retinal, functions as a light-driven proton pump in the purple membrane of the halophilic archaebacterium, Halobacterium halobium. Bacterio-opsin deficient mutants have been characterized in attempts to elucidate regulation of the gene encoding bacterio-opsin (bop). Analysis of the mutational defect in Bop mutants has revealed the existence of at least two genes that affect bop gene expression and (or) purple membrane formation: (i) the brp gene, located 526 base pairs upstream of the bop gene, is transcribed in the opposite orientation, and (ii) the bat gene, located 1602 base pairs upstream of the bop gene, is transcribed in the same orientation as the brp gene. The bat gene start codon overlaps the stop codon of the brp gene. The bat gene could encode an acidic protein of 73 000 Da (674 amino acids) with a predicted secondary structure typical of a soluble alpha–beta type protein. This type of secondary structure is in contrast to the hydrophobic structure predicted for the putative brp protein. Transcriptional analyses of the wild type, 11 Bop mutants, and a Bop revenant suggest that the bat gene has a more direct role than the brp gene in bop gene expression and is involved in activating bop and brp gene expression.Key words: purple membrane, bacterio-opsin, bop gene cluster, transcripts, activator.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longqiang Zhu ◽  
Zhihuang Zhu ◽  
Leiyu Zhu ◽  
Dingquan Wang ◽  
Jianxin Wang ◽  
...  

In this study, the complete mitogenome of Lysmata vittata (Crustacea: Decapoda: Hippolytidae) has been determined. The genome sequence was 22003 base pairs (bp) and it included thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs), twenty-two transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and three putative control regions (CRs). The nucleotide composition of AT was 71.50%, with a slightly negative AT skewness (-0.04). Usually the standard start codon of the PCGs was ATN, while cox1, nad4L and cox3 began with TTG, TTG and GTG. The canonical termination codon was TAA, while nad5 and nad4 ended with incomplete stop codon T, and cox1 ended with TAG. We compared the order of genes of Decapoda ancestor and found that the positions of the two tRNAs genes ( trnA and trnR ) of the L. vittata were translocated. The phylogenetic tree showed that L. vittata was an independent clade, namely Hippolytidae.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (17) ◽  
pp. 10150-10165
Author(s):  
Jeong Hwan Hur ◽  
Chan Young Kang ◽  
Sungjin Lee ◽  
Nazia Parveen ◽  
Jihyeon Yu ◽  
...  

Abstract I-motif or C4 is a four-stranded DNA structure with a protonated cytosine:cytosine base pair (C+:C) found in cytosine-rich sequences. We have found that oligodeoxynucleotides containing adenine and cytosine repeats form a stable secondary structure at a physiological pH with magnesium ion, which is similar to i-motif structure, and have named this structure ‘adenine:cytosine-motif (AC-motif)’. AC-motif contains C+:C base pairs intercalated with putative A+:C base pairs between protonated adenine and cytosine. By investigation of the AC-motif present in the CDKL3 promoter (AC-motifCDKL3), one of AC-motifs found in the genome, we confirmed that AC-motifCDKL3 has a key role in regulating CDKL3 gene expression in response to magnesium. This is further supported by confirming that genome-edited mutant cell lines, lacking the AC-motif formation, lost this regulation effect. Our results verify that adenine-cytosine repeats commonly present in the genome can form a stable non-canonical secondary structure with a non-Watson–Crick base pair and have regulatory roles in cells, which expand non-canonical DNA repertoires.


Genetics ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-667
Author(s):  
Douglas P Dickinson ◽  
Kenneth W Gross ◽  
Nina Piccini ◽  
Carol M Wilson

ABSTRACT Inbred strains of mice carry Ren-1, a gene encoding the thermostable Renin-1 isozyme. Ren-1 is expressed at relatively low levels in mouse submandibular gland and kidney. Some strains also carry Ren-2, a gene encoding the thermolabile Renin-2 isozyme. Ren-2 is expressed at high levels in the mouse submandibular gland and at very low levels, if at all, in the kidney. Ren-1 and Ren-2 are closely linked on mouse chromosome 1, show extensive homology in coding and noncoding regions and provide a model for studying the regulation of gene expression. An investigation of renin genes and enzymatic activity in wild-derived mice identified several restriction site polymorphisms as well as putative variants in renin gene expression and protein structure. The number of renin genes carried by different subpopulations of wild-derived mice is consistent with the occurrence of a gene duplication event prior to the divergence of M. spretus (2.75-5.5 million yr ago). This conclusion is in agreement with a prior estimate based upon comparative sequence analysis of Ren-1 and Ren-2 from inbred laboratory mice.


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (6) ◽  
pp. R2329-R2335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Trayhurn ◽  
Jacqueline S. Duncan ◽  
Anne M. Wood ◽  
John H. Beattie

White adipose tissue (WAT) has been examined to determine whether the gene encoding metallothionein (MT), a low-molecular-weight stress response protein, is expressed in the tissue and whether MT may be a secretory product of adipocytes. The MT-1 gene was expressed in epididymal WAT, with MT-1 mRNA levels being similar in lean and obese ( ob/ ob) mice. MT-1 mRNA was found in each of the main adipose tissue sites (epididymal, perirenal, omental, subcutaneous), and there was no major difference between depots. Separation of adipocytes from the stromal-vascular fraction of WAT indicated that the MT gene (MT-1 and MT-2) was expressed in adipocytes themselves. Treatment of mice with zinc had no effect on MT-1 mRNA levels in WAT, despite strong induction of MT-1 expression in the liver. MT-1 gene expression in WAT was also unaltered by fasting or norepinephrine. However, administration of a β3-adrenoceptor agonist, BRL-35153A, led to a significant increase in MT-1 mRNA. On differentiation of fibroblastic preadipocytes to adipocytes in primary culture, MT was detected in the medium, suggesting that the protein may be secreted from WAT. It is concluded that WAT may be a significant site of MT production; within adipocytes, MT could play an antioxidant role in protecting fatty acids from damage.


2011 ◽  
Vol 214 (19) ◽  
pp. 3248-3254 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Rennison ◽  
G. L. Owens ◽  
W. T. Allison ◽  
J. S. Taylor

1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 5331-5339 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Herrera ◽  
H S Ro ◽  
G S Robinson ◽  
K G Xanthopoulos ◽  
B M Spiegelman

Adipocyte differentiation is accompanied by the transcriptional activation of many new genes, including the gene encoding adipocyte P2 (aP2), an intracellular lipid-binding protein. Using specific deletions and point mutations, we have shown that at least two distinct sequence elements in the aP2 promoter contribute to the expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene in chimeric constructions transfected into adipose cells. An AP-I site at -120, shown earlier to bind Jun- and Fos-like proteins, serves as a positive regulator of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene expression in adipocytes but is specifically silenced by adjacent upstream sequences in preadipocytes. Sequences upstream of the AP-I site at -140 (termed AE-1) can function as an enhancer in both cell types when linked to a viral promoter but can stimulate expression only in fat cells in the intact aP2 promoter. The AE-1 sequence binds an adipocyte protein identical or very closely related to an enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) that has been previously implicated in the regulation of several liver-specific genes. A functional role for C/EBP in the regulation of the aP2 gene is indicated by the facts that C/EBP mRNA is induced during adipocyte differentiation and the aP2 promoter is transactivated by cotransfection of a C/EBP expression vector into preadipose cells. These results indicate that sequences that bind C/EBP and the Fos-Jun complex play major roles in the expression of the aP2 gene during adipocyte differentiation and demonstrate that C/EBP can directly regulate cellular gene expression.


1982 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 829-839
Author(s):  
A M Easton ◽  
R H Rownd

The incompatibility properties of IncFII R plasmid NR1 were compared with those of two of its copy number mutants, pRR12 and pRR21. pRR12 produced an altered incompatibility product and also had an altered incompatibility target site. The target site appeared to be located within the incompatibility gene, which is located more than 1,200 base pairs from the plasmid origin of replication. The incompatibility properties of pRR21 were indistinguishable from those of NR1. Lambda phages have been constructed which contain the incompatibility region of NR1 or of one of its copy mutants fused to the lacZ gene. In lysogens constructed with these phages, beta-galactosidase was produced under the control of a promoter located within the plasmid incompatibility region. Lysogens containing prophages with the incompatibility regions from pRR12 and pRR21 produced higher levels of beta-galactosidase than did lysogens containing prophages with the incompatibility region from the wild-type NR1. The introduction into these inc-lac lysogens of pBR322 plasmids carrying the incompatibility regions of the wild-type or mutant plasmids resulted in decreased levels of beta-galactosidase production. For a given lysogen, the decrease was greater when the pBR322 derivative expressed a stronger incompatibility toward the plasmid from which the fragment in the prophage was derived. This suggested that the incompatibility product acts on its target to repress gene expression in the plasmid replication region.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 3157-3167
Author(s):  
R B Darnell ◽  
I Boime

We have analyzed the regulation of the alpha gonadotropin gene in eutopic placental cells and ectopic tumor cells by constructing a series of plasmid vectors containing alpha genomic 5' flanking DNA placed upstream of the gene encoding the bacterial enzyme chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). These plasmid DNAs were transfected into a eutopic (JAr) and an ectopic (HeLa) cell line. Both cell types expressed the CAT gene from plasmid constructs containing as much as 1,500 base pairs (bp) and as little as 140 bp of alpha 5' flanking DNA; JAr cells were considerably more efficient than HeLa cells. Ectopic and eutopic cells differed qualitatively in their expression from these alpha-CAT constructs when cells were treated with cAMP or butyrate. Butyrate induced alpha expression in HeLa cells but not in JAr cells, while cAMP induced expression in JAr cells. These results are consistent with and extend previous observations suggesting that there are cell-specific differences in the regulation of alpha gene expression in ectopic and eutopic cells. However, by using deletion constructs of the alpha-CAT gene, we found that the basal expression and cell-specific induction of the alpha gene in ectopic and eutopic cells were dependent on the same 140 bp of alpha 5' flanking DNA. These 140 bp were sequenced and found to contain a 9-bp stretch of DNA homologous with the consensus viral enhancer sequence. Such features of alpha expression common to both ectopic and eutopic cells may be involved in the coordinate expression of the alpha gene and the tumorigenic phenotype observed in each cell type.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2914-2924
Author(s):  
A Hoekema ◽  
R A Kastelein ◽  
M Vasser ◽  
H A de Boer

The coding sequences of genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae show a preference for 25 of the 61 possible coding triplets. The degree of this biased codon usage in each gene is positively correlated to its expression level. Highly expressed genes use these 25 major codons almost exclusively. As an experimental approach to studying biased codon usage and its possible role in modulating gene expression, systematic codon replacements were carried out in the highly expressed PGK1 gene. The expression of phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) was studied both on a high-copy-number plasmid and as a single copy gene integrated into the chromosome. Replacing an increasing number (up to 39% of all codons) of major codons with synonymous minor ones at the 5' end of the coding sequence caused a dramatic decline of the expression level. The PGK protein levels dropped 10-fold. The steady-state mRNA levels also declined, but to a lesser extent (threefold). Our data indicate that this reduction in mRNA levels was due to destabilization caused by impaired translation elongation at the minor codons. By preventing translation of the PGK mRNAs by the introduction of a stop codon 3' and adjacent to the start codon, the steady-state mRNA levels decreased dramatically. We conclude that efficient mRNA translation is required for maintaining mRNA stability in S. cerevisiae. These findings have important implications for the study of the expression of heterologous genes in yeast cells.


Author(s):  
Kris Noel Dahl ◽  
Elizabeth A. Booth-Gauthier ◽  
Alexandre J. S. Ribeiro ◽  
Zhixia Zhong

Mechanical force is found to be increasingly important during development and for proper homeostatic maintenance of cells and tissues. The nucleus occupies a large volume fraction of the cell and is interconnected with the cytoskeleton. Here, to determine the direct role of the nucleus itself in converting forces to changes in gene expression, also known as, mechanotransduction, we examine changes in nuclear mechanics and gene reorganization associated with cell fate and with extracellular force. We measure mechanics of nuclei in many model cell systems using micropipette aspiration to show changes in nuclear mechanics. In intact cells we characterize the rheological changes induced in the genome organization with live cell imaging and particle tracking, and we suggest how these changes relate to gene expression.


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