Homeodomain-like DNA binding proteins control the haploid-to-diploid transition in <i>Dictyostelium</i>.

ABSTRACT: Homeodomain proteins control the developmental transition between the haploid and diploid phases in several eukaryotic lineages, but it is not known whether this regulatory mechanism reflects the ancestral condition or, instead, convergent evolution. We have characterized the mating-type locus of the amoebozoan Dictyostelium discoideum, which encodes two pairs of small proteins that determine the three mating types of this species; none of these proteins display recognizable homology to known families. We report that the nuclear magnetic resonance structures of two of them, MatA and MatB, contain helix-turn-helix folds flanked by largely disordered amino- and carboxyl-terminal tails. This fold closely resembles that of homeodomain transcription factors, and, like those proteins, Mat

SUBMITTER: Hedgethorne K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5580921 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature