A new promoter element associated with daily time keeping in Drosophila. Issue 11 (12th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sharp, Brandi; Paquet, Eric; Naef, Felix; Bafna, Akanksha; Wijnen, Herman
• Is Part Of: Nucleic acids research. Volume 45:Issue 11(2017)
• Page Start: 6459
• Page End: 6470
• Publication Date: 2017-04-12
• Subjects: Nucleic acids -- Periodicals; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; 572.805
• DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx268
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-1048

Abstract

Abstract: Circadian clocks are autonomous daily timekeeping mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt to environmental rhythms as well as temporally organize biological functions. Clock-controlled timekeeping involves extensive regulation of rhythmic gene expression. To date, relatively few clock-associated promoter elements have been identified and characterized. In an unbiased search of core clock gene promoters from 12 species of Drosophila, we discovered a 29-bp consensus sequence that we designated as the C lock-A ssociated T ranscriptional A ctivation C assette or 'CATAC'. To experimentally address the spatiotemporal expression information associated with this element, we generated constructs with four separate native CATAC elements upstream of a basal promoter driving expression of either the yeast Gal4 or firefly l uciferase reporter genes. Reporter assays showed that presence of wild-type, but not mutated CATAC elements, imparted increased expression levels as well as rhythmic regulation. Part of the CATAC consensus sequence resembles the E-box binding site for the core circadian transcription factor CLOCK/CYCLE (CLK/CYC), and CATAC-mediated expression rhythms are lost in the presence of null mutations in either cyc or the gene encoding the CLK/CYC inhibitor, period ( per ). Nevertheless, our results indicate that CATAC's enhancer function persists in the absence of CLK/CYC. Thus, CATAC represents a novel cis -regulatory element encoding clock-controlled regulation.