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Elt-1, an embryonically expressed Caenorhabditis elegans gene homologous to the GATA transcription factor family.

ABSTRACT: The short, asymmetrical DNA sequence to which the vertebrate GATA family of transcription factors binds is present in some Caenorhabditis elegans gene regulatory regions: it is required for activation of the vitellogenin genes and is also found just 5' of the TATA boxes of tra-2 and the msp genes. In vertebrates GATA-1 is specific to erythroid lineages, whereas GATA-2 and GATA-3 are present in multiple tissues. In an effort to identify the trans-acting factors that may recognize this sequence element in C. elegans, we used a degenerate oligonucleotide to clone a C. elegans homolog to this gene. We call this gene elt-1 (erythrocytelike transcription factor). It is single copy and specifies a 1.75-kb mRNA that is present predominantly, if not exclusively, in embryos. The region of elt-1 encoding two zinc fingers is remarkably similar to the DNA-binding domain of the vertebrate GATA-binding proteins. However, outside of the DNA-binding domains the amino acid sequences are quite divergent. Nevertheless, introns are located at identical or nearly identical positions in elt-1 and the mouse GATA-1 gene. In addition, elt-1 mRNA is trans-spliced to the 22-base untranslated leader, SL1. The DNA upstream of the elt-1 TATA box contains eight copies of the GATA recognition sequence within the first 300 bp, suggesting that elt-1 may be autogenously regulated. Our results suggest that the specialized role of GATA-1 in erythroid gene expression was derived after separation of the nematodes and the line that led to the vertebrates, since C. elegans lacks an erythroid lineage.

SUBMITTER: Spieth J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC361353 | biostudies-other | 1991 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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elt-1, an embryonically expressed Caenorhabditis elegans gene homologous to the GATA transcription factor family.

Spieth J J Shim Y H YH Lea K K Conrad R R Blumenthal T T

Molecular and cellular biology 19910901 9

The short, asymmetrical DNA sequence to which the vertebrate GATA family of transcription factors binds is present in some Caenorhabditis elegans gene regulatory regions: it is required for activation of the vitellogenin genes and is also found just 5' of the TATA boxes of tra-2 and the msp genes. In vertebrates GATA-1 is specific to erythroid lineages, whereas GATA-2 and GATA-3 are present in multiple tissues. In an effort to identify the trans-acting factors that may recognize this sequence el ...[more]

PMID: 1875944

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Project description:BackgroundGATA transcription factors influence many developmental processes, including the specification of embryonic germ layers. The GATA gene family has significantly expanded in many animal lineages: whereas diverse cnidarians have only one GATA transcription factor, six GATA genes have been identified in many vertebrates, five in many insects, and eleven to thirteen in Caenorhabditis nematodes. All bilaterian animal genomes have at least one member each of two classes, GATA123 and GATA456.ResultsWe have identified one GATA123 gene and one GATA456 gene from the genomic sequence of two invertebrate deuterostomes, a cephalochordate (Branchiostoma floridae) and a hemichordate (Saccoglossus kowalevskii). We also have confirmed the presence of six GATA genes in all vertebrate genomes, as well as additional GATA genes in teleost fish. Analyses of conserved sequence motifs and of changes to the exon-intron structure, and molecular phylogenetic analyses of these deuterostome GATA genes support their origin from two ancestral deuterostome genes, one GATA 123 and one GATA456. Comparison of the conserved genomic organization across vertebrates identified eighteen paralogous gene families linked to multiple vertebrate GATA genes (GATA paralogons), providing the strongest evidence yet for expansion of vertebrate GATA gene families via genome duplication events.ConclusionFrom our analysis, we infer the evolutionary birth order and relationships among vertebrate GATA transcription factors, and define their expansion via multiple rounds of whole genome duplication events. As the genomes of four independent invertebrate deuterostome lineages contain single copy GATA123 and GATA456 genes, we infer that the 0R (pre-genome duplication) invertebrate deuterostome ancestor also had two GATA genes, one of each class. Synteny analyses identify duplications of paralogous chromosomal regions (paralogons), from single ancestral vertebrate GATA123 and GATA456 chromosomes to four paralogons after the first round of vertebrate genome duplication, to seven paralogons after the second round of vertebrate genome duplication, and to fourteen paralogons after the fish-specific 3R genome duplication. The evolutionary analysis of GATA gene origins and relationships may inform understanding vertebrate GATA factor redundancies and specializations.

Dataset Information

Elt-1, an embryonically expressed Caenorhabditis elegans gene homologous to the GATA transcription factor family.

Publications

elt-1, an embryonically expressed Caenorhabditis elegans gene homologous to the GATA transcription factor family.

Similar Datasets

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