TY - JOUR
T1 - The structure and organization of the luciferase gene in the photosynthetic dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra
AU - Li, Liming
AU - Hastings, J. Woodland
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation (9631935) and the Office of Naval Research (N00014-94-10575 and N00014-96-1-1118). We thank Drs David Morse, T. Wilson, M. Mittag, T. Fagan, T. Urbig and R. Knaust for helpful comments on the manuscript.
PY - 1998/1
Y1 - 1998/1
N2 - The structural features of dinoflagellate nuclei are distinct from those other eukaryotes in several respects, and the mechanisms of DNA replication and transcription are almost completely unknown. In this study we investigated the structure and organization of the the gene coding for luciferase (LCF), the enzyme catalyzing the bioluminescent reaction in the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra. The genomic lcf sequence, including its flanking regions, were completely determined. The transcription initiation site was identified using primer extension and RNase protection assays. Sequence analysis shows that, like the luciferin-binding protein gene (lbp) from G. polyedra, lcf does not contain introns. Analysis of results from genomic Southern blots, inverse PCR, and sequencing revealed that the lcf gene is organized as tandem repeats in the genome. The spacer region between the lcf genes, which very likely contains the promoter elements necessary for transcription initiation, has no TATA box or other known promoter elements or consensus sequences. However, a conserved sequence motif was identified by comparing the two intergene spacer regions of lcf and the peridinin chlorophyll protein gene, pcp; a novel 13 nt sequence, CGTGAACGCAGTG, which might be a dinoflagellate promoter, was found to be present in both.
AB - The structural features of dinoflagellate nuclei are distinct from those other eukaryotes in several respects, and the mechanisms of DNA replication and transcription are almost completely unknown. In this study we investigated the structure and organization of the the gene coding for luciferase (LCF), the enzyme catalyzing the bioluminescent reaction in the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra. The genomic lcf sequence, including its flanking regions, were completely determined. The transcription initiation site was identified using primer extension and RNase protection assays. Sequence analysis shows that, like the luciferin-binding protein gene (lbp) from G. polyedra, lcf does not contain introns. Analysis of results from genomic Southern blots, inverse PCR, and sequencing revealed that the lcf gene is organized as tandem repeats in the genome. The spacer region between the lcf genes, which very likely contains the promoter elements necessary for transcription initiation, has no TATA box or other known promoter elements or consensus sequences. However, a conserved sequence motif was identified by comparing the two intergene spacer regions of lcf and the peridinin chlorophyll protein gene, pcp; a novel 13 nt sequence, CGTGAACGCAGTG, which might be a dinoflagellate promoter, was found to be present in both.
KW - Bioluminescence
KW - Dinoflagellate
KW - Gene duplicaton
KW - Intron
KW - Luciferase
KW - Transcription start site
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U2 - 10.1023/A:1005941421474
DO - 10.1023/A:1005941421474
M3 - Article
C2 - 9484439
AN - SCOPUS:0031907265
SN - 0167-4412
VL - 36
SP - 275
EP - 284
JO - Plant Molecular Biology
JF - Plant Molecular Biology
IS - 2
ER -