The su(Hw) protein insulates expression of the Drosophila melanogaster white gene from chromosomal position-effects (original) (raw)

Abstract

Mutations in the suppressor of Hairy-wing [su(Hw)] locus reverse the phenotype of a number of tissue-specific mutations caused by insertion of a gypsy retrotransposon. The su(Hw) gene encodes a zinc finger protein which binds to a 430 bp region of gypsy shown to be both necessary and sufficient for its mutagenic effects. su(Hw) protein causes mutations by inactivation of enhancer elements only when a su(Hw) binding region is located between these regulatory sequences and a promoter. To understand the molecular basis of enhancer inactivation, we tested the effects of su(Hw) protein on expression of the mini-white gene. We find that su(Hw) protein stabilizes mini-white gene expression from chromosomal position-effects in euchromatic locations by inactivating negative and positive regulatory elements present in flanking DNA. Furthermore, the su(Hw) protein partially protects transposon insertions from the negative effects of heterochromatin. To explain our current results, we propose that su(Hw) protein alters the organization of chromatin by creating a new boundary in a pre-existing domain of higher order chromatin structure. This separates enhancers and silencers distal to the su(Hw) binding region into an independent unit of gene activity, thereby causing their inactivation.

435

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bender W., Akam M., Karch F., Beachy P. A., Peifer M., Spierer P., Lewis E. B., Hogness D. S. Molecular Genetics of the Bithorax Complex in Drosophila melanogaster. Science. 1983 Jul 1;221(4605):23–29. doi: 10.1126/science.221.4605.23. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Birchler J. A., Hiebert J. C., Rabinow L. Interaction of the mottler of white with transposable element alleles at the white locus in Drosophila melanogaster. Genes Dev. 1989 Jan;3(1):73–84. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.1.73. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brand A. H., Breeden L., Abraham J., Sternglanz R., Nasmyth K. Characterization of a "silencer" in yeast: a DNA sequence with properties opposite to those of a transcriptional enhancer. Cell. 1985 May;41(1):41–48. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90059-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Corces V. G., Geyer P. K. Interactions of retrotransposons with the host genome: the case of the gypsy element of Drosophila. Trends Genet. 1991 Mar;7(3):86–90. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(91)90277-W. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Courey A. J., Plon S. E., Wang J. C. The use of psoralen-modified DNA to probe the mechanism of enhancer action. Cell. 1986 May 23;45(4):567–574. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90288-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dunaway M., Dröge P. Transactivation of the Xenopus rRNA gene promoter by its enhancer. Nature. 1989 Oct 19;341(6243):657–659. doi: 10.1038/341657a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Eissenberg J. C. Position effect variegation in Drosophila: towards a genetics of chromatin assembly. Bioessays. 1989 Jul;11(1):14–17. doi: 10.1002/bies.950110105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Flavell A. J., Alphey L. S., Ross S. J., Leigh-Brown A. J. Complete reversions of a gypsy retrotransposon-induced cut locus mutation in Drosophila melanogaster involving jockey transposon insertions and flanking gypsy sequence deletions. Mol Gen Genet. 1990 Jan;220(2):181–185. doi: 10.1007/BF00260479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Forrester W. C., Takegawa S., Papayannopoulou T., Stamatoyannopoulos G., Groudine M. Evidence for a locus activation region: the formation of developmentally stable hypersensitive sites in globin-expressing hybrids. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Dec 23;15(24):10159–10177. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.24.10159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Geyer P. K., Corces V. G. DNA position-specific repression of transcription by a Drosophila zinc finger protein. Genes Dev. 1992 Oct;6(10):1865–1873. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.10.1865. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Geyer P. K., Corces V. G. Separate regulatory elements are responsible for the complex pattern of tissue-specific and developmental transcription of the yellow locus in Drosophila melanogaster. Genes Dev. 1987 Nov;1(9):996–1004. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.9.996. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Geyer P. K., Green M. M., Corces V. G. Mutant gene phenotypes mediated by a Drosophila melanogaster retrotransposon require sequences homologous to mammalian enhancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Nov;85(22):8593–8597. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.22.8593. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Geyer P. K., Green M. M., Corces V. G. Tissue-specific transcriptional enhancers may act in trans on the gene located in the homologous chromosome: the molecular basis of transvection in Drosophila. EMBO J. 1990 Jul;9(7):2247–2256. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07395.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Geyer P. K., Spana C., Corces V. G. On the molecular mechanism of gypsy-induced mutations at the yellow locus of Drosophila melanogaster. EMBO J. 1986 Oct;5(10):2657–2662. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04548.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Grosveld F., van Assendelft G. B., Greaves D. R., Kollias G. Position-independent, high-level expression of the human beta-globin gene in transgenic mice. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):975–985. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90584-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gyurkovics H., Gausz J., Kummer J., Karch F. A new homeotic mutation in the Drosophila bithorax complex removes a boundary separating two domains of regulation. EMBO J. 1990 Aug;9(8):2579–2585. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07439.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hazelrigg T., Levis R., Rubin G. M. Transformation of white locus DNA in drosophila: dosage compensation, zeste interaction, and position effects. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):469–481. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90240-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hazelrigg T., Petersen S. An unusual genomic position effect on Drosophila white gene expression: pairing dependence, interactions with zeste, and molecular analysis of revertants. Genetics. 1992 Jan;130(1):125–138. doi: 10.1093/genetics/130.1.125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Henikoff S. Position-effect variegation after 60 years. Trends Genet. 1990 Dec;6(12):422–426. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(90)90304-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Herendeen D. R., Kassavetis G. A., Geiduschek E. P. A transcriptional enhancer whose function imposes a requirement that proteins track along DNA. Science. 1992 May 29;256(5061):1298–1303. doi: 10.1126/science.1598572. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Holdridge C., Dorsett D. Repression of hsp70 heat shock gene transcription by the suppressor of hairy-wing protein of Drosophila melanogaster. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Apr;11(4):1894–1900. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.4.1894. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Jack J., Dorsett D., Delotto Y., Liu S. Expression of the cut locus in the Drosophila wing margin is required for cell type specification and is regulated by a distant enhancer. Development. 1991 Nov;113(3):735–747. doi: 10.1242/dev.113.3.735. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Johnson L. M., Kayne P. S., Kahn E. S., Grunstein M. Genetic evidence for an interaction between SIR3 and histone H4 in the repression of the silent mating loci in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6286–6290. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.16.6286. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Karess R. E., Rubin G. M. Analysis of P transposable element functions in Drosophila. Cell. 1984 Aug;38(1):135–146. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90534-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kellum R., Schedl P. A group of scs elements function as domain boundaries in an enhancer-blocking assay. Mol Cell Biol. 1992 May;12(5):2424–2431. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.5.2424. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kellum R., Schedl P. A position-effect assay for boundaries of higher order chromosomal domains. Cell. 1991 Mar 8;64(5):941–950. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90318-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Locke J., Kotarski M. A., Tartof K. D. Dosage-dependent modifiers of position effect variegation in Drosophila and a mass action model that explains their effect. Genetics. 1988 Sep;120(1):181–198. doi: 10.1093/genetics/120.1.181. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Marlor R. L., Parkhurst S. M., Corces V. G. The Drosophila melanogaster gypsy transposable element encodes putative gene products homologous to retroviral proteins. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Apr;6(4):1129–1134. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.4.1129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Mazo A. M., Mizrokhi L. J., Karavanov A. A., Sedkov Y. A., Krichevskaja A. A., Ilyin Y. V. Suppression in Drosophila: su(Hw) and su(f) gene products interact with a region of gypsy (mdg4) regulating its transcriptional activity. EMBO J. 1989 Mar;8(3):903–911. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb03451.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Modolell J., Bender W., Meselson M. Drosophila melanogaster mutations suppressible by the suppressor of Hairy-wing are insertions of a 7.3-kilobase mobile element. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Mar;80(6):1678–1682. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.6.1678. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Müeller-Storm H. P., Sogo J. M., Schaffner W. An enhancer stimulates transcription in trans when attached to the promoter via a protein bridge. Cell. 1989 Aug 25;58(4):767–777. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90110-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Parkhurst S. M., Corces V. G. Interactions among the gypsy transposable element and the yellow and the suppressor of hairy-wing loci in Drosophila melanogaster. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Jan;6(1):47–53. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.1.47. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Parkhurst S. M., Harrison D. A., Remington M. P., Spana C., Kelley R. L., Coyne R. S., Corces V. G. The Drosophila su(Hw) gene, which controls the phenotypic effect of the gypsy transposable element, encodes a putative DNA-binding protein. Genes Dev. 1988 Oct;2(10):1205–1215. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.10.1205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Peifer M., Bender W. Sequences of the gypsy transposon of Drosophila necessary for its effects on adjacent genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Dec;85(24):9650–9654. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.24.9650. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Peifer M., Bender W. The anterobithorax and bithorax mutations of the bithorax complex. EMBO J. 1986 Sep;5(9):2293–2303. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04497.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Pirrotta V., Steller H., Bozzetti M. P. Multiple upstream regulatory elements control the expression of the Drosophila white gene. EMBO J. 1985 Dec 16;4(13A):3501–3508. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb04109.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Qian S., Capovilla M., Pirrotta V. The bx region enhancer, a distant cis-control element of the Drosophila Ubx gene and its regulation by hunchback and other segmentation genes. EMBO J. 1991 Jun;10(6):1415–1425. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb07662.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Qian S., Varjavand B., Pirrotta V. Molecular analysis of the zeste-white interaction reveals a promoter-proximal element essential for distant enhancer-promoter communication. Genetics. 1992 May;131(1):79–90. doi: 10.1093/genetics/131.1.79. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Robertson H. M., Preston C. R., Phillis R. W., Johnson-Schlitz D. M., Benz W. K., Engels W. R. A stable genomic source of P element transposase in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1988 Mar;118(3):461–470. doi: 10.1093/genetics/118.3.461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Rubin G. M., Spradling A. C. Genetic transformation of Drosophila with transposable element vectors. Science. 1982 Oct 22;218(4570):348–353. doi: 10.1126/science.6289436. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Rutledge B. J., Mortin M. A., Schwarz E., Thierry-Mieg D., Meselson M. Genetic interactions of modifier genes and modifiable alleles in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1988 Jun;119(2):391–397. doi: 10.1093/genetics/119.2.391. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Simon J., Peifer M., Bender W., O'Connor M. Regulatory elements of the bithorax complex that control expression along the anterior-posterior axis. EMBO J. 1990 Dec;9(12):3945–3956. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07615.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Smith P. A., Corces V. G. Drosophila transposable elements: mechanisms of mutagenesis and interactions with the host genome. Adv Genet. 1991;29:229–300. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2660(08)60109-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Smith P. A., Corces V. G. The suppressor of Hairy-wing binding region is required for gypsy mutagenesis. Mol Gen Genet. 1992 May;233(1-2):65–70. doi: 10.1007/BF00587562. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Spana C., Harrison D. A., Corces V. G. The Drosophila melanogaster suppressor of Hairy-wing protein binds to specific sequences of the gypsy retrotransposon. Genes Dev. 1988 Nov;2(11):1414–1423. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.11.1414. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Stief A., Winter D. M., Strätling W. H., Sippel A. E. A nuclear DNA attachment element mediates elevated and position-independent gene activity. Nature. 1989 Sep 28;341(6240):343–345. doi: 10.1038/341343a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Wedel A., Weiss D. S., Popham D., Dröge P., Kustu S. A bacterial enhancer functions to tether a transcriptional activator near a promoter. Science. 1990 Apr 27;248(4954):486–490. doi: 10.1126/science.1970441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]