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Analysis of the transcriptional activation domain of the Drosophila tango bHLH-PAS transcription factor

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Abstract

Basic-helix-loop-helix-PAS transcription factors play important roles in diverse biological processes including cellular differentiation and specification, oxygen tension regulation and dioxin metabolism. Drosophila tango is orthologous to mammalian Arnt and acts as a common dimerization partner for bHLH-PAS proteins during embryogenesis. A transient transfection assay using Drosophila S2 tissue culture cells and wild-type and mutant Drosophila tango cDNAs was used to localize the activation domain of the Tango protein. An activation domain was identified in the C-terminus of TGO consisting of poly-glutamine and histidine-proline repeats. Transcriptional activation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (breathless) gene required an intact TGO C-terminus, in vitro. Co-expression assays of trachealess and tgo in the developing eye imaginal disc showed a requirement for the C-terminal transactivation domain of TGO for a cellular response. Genetic analysis of tgo3 shows that the paired repeat is necessary for tracheal tubule formation in all branches. Lastly, expression of a C-terminal truncated tgo transgene specifically in the CNS midline and trachea resulted in reductions in the number of breathless-expressing cells. These results together identify TGO’s transactivation domain and establish its importance for proper target gene regulation and cellular specification.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Diana van de Hoef, Gabrielle Boulianne and Doug Holmyard for SEM of tgo and trh in the eye. We thank Yalda Sedaghat for help with transcription assays and western analysis. We thank Steve Crews and Mary Ward for the P[UAS tgo] transgenes, anti-SIM, anti-TRH and anti-TGO. This study was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grant to M.J.S.

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  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8M5

    Margaret J. Sonnenfeld, Christopher Delvecchio & Xuetao Sun

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  1. Margaret J. Sonnenfeld
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  2. Christopher Delvecchio
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  3. Xuetao Sun
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Correspondence to Margaret J. Sonnenfeld.

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Communicated by C. Desplan

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Sonnenfeld, M.J., Delvecchio, C. & Sun, X. Analysis of the transcriptional activation domain of the Drosophila tango bHLH-PAS transcription factor. Dev Genes Evol 215, 221–229 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-004-0462-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-004-0462-9

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