Developmental regulation of transcription by a tissue-specific TAF homolog (original) (raw)

1. Mark A. Hiller1,
2. Ting-Yi Lin1,
3. Cricket Wood, and
4. Margaret T. Fuller2
5. Departments of Developmental Biology and Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5329, USA

Abstract

Alternate forms of the general transcription machinery have been described in several tissues or cell types. However, the role of tissue-specific TBP-associated factors (TAFIIs) and other tissue-specific transcription components in regulating differential gene expression during development was not clear. Here we show that the_cannonball_ gene of Drosophila encodes a cell type-specific homolog of a more ubiquitously expressed component of the general transcription factor TFIID.cannonball is required in vivo for high level transcription of a set of stage- and tissue-specific target genes during male gametogenesis. Regulation of transcription by cannonball is absolutely required for spermatogenesis, as null mutations block meiotic cell cycle progression and result in a complete failure of spermatid differentiation. Our results demonstrate that cell type-specific TAFIIs play an important role in developmental regulation of gene expression.

• Spermatogenesis
• TAF
• TFIID
• Drosophila
• cannonball
• dTAFII80

Footnotes

• ↵1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

• ↵2 Corresponding author.

• E-MAIL fuller{at}cmgm.stanford.edu; FAX (650) 725-7739.

• Article and publication are at www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.869101.

• • Received November 27, 2000.
  • Accepted February 13, 2001.

• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

•