Characterization of Drosophila OVO protein DNA binding specificity using random DNA oligomer selection suggests zinc finger degeneration.

ABSTRACT: The Drosophila melanogaster ovo locus codes for several tissue- and stage-specific proteins that all possess a common C-terminal array of four C(2)H(2)zinc fingers. Three fingers conform to the motif framework and are evolutionarily conserved; the fourth diverges considerably. The ovo genetic function affects germ cell viability, sex identity and oogenesis, while the overlapping svb function is a key selector for epidermal structures under the control of wnt and EGF receptor signaling. We isolated synthetic DNA oligomers bound by the OVO zinc finger array from a high complexity starting population and derived a statistically significant 9 bp long DNA consensus sequence, which is nearly identical to a consensus derived from several Drosophila genes known or suspected of being regulated by t

SUBMITTER: Lee S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC102545 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature