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Department of the Control of Genetic Processes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
1 Corresponding author: Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov St., Moscow 119334, Russia.
E-mail: georgiev_p{at}mail.ru
| ABSTRACT |
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The prevalent structural model suggests that boundary elements or insulators subdivide eukaryotic chromosomes into functionally and structurally autonomous domains (GERASIMOVA and CORCES 2001; GEYER and CLARK 2002; WEST et al. 2002; KUHN and GEYER 2003). The insulators determine the limits of higher-order "looped" chromatin domains by interacting with each other or/and with some other nuclear structure. Consistent with the idea that pairing between Su(Hw) insulators is responsible for the boundary activity, duplication of the Su(Hw) insulator neutralized the enhancer-blocking activity and even strengthened activation by the enhancer (CAI and SHEN 2001; MURAVYOVA et al. 2001). At the same time, two Su(Hw) insulators flanking either the enhancer or the promoter are still capable of blocking enhancer-promoter communication. These results suggest that interaction between the Su(Hw) insulators may facilitate activation by bringing regulatory elements together or block the interaction between them. The main prediction of this model is that pairing between insulators can block interactions between all kinds of proteins.
Here we examined whether insertion of one or two copies of the Su(Hw) insulator in the P transposon would suppress the frequency of transposition, which depends on the efficiency of interaction between transposase complexes bound to P ends. Full-length P elements are 2.9 kb and encode an 87-kD transposase protein (O'HARE and RUBIN 1983). P-element transposition requires
150 bp of sequence at each end of the P element (KAUFMAN et al. 1989). These sequences include 31-bp terminal inverted repeats, internal transposase-binding sites, and internal 11-bp inverted repeats (KAUFMAN et al. 1989; MULLINS et al. 1989). During P-element transposition, transposase catalyzes the cleavage and strand-transfer steps of the transposition reaction (KAUFMAN and RIO 1992; BEALL and RIO 1997). The P-element transposase requires both 5' and 3' termini of the P element for efficient DNA cleavage, suggesting that a synaptic complex forms on the P-element termini prior to cleavage (BEALL and RIO 1997, 1998). Insertion of one or two copies of the Su(Hw) insulator in the P transposon considerably diminishes the frequency of its transpositions. We suggest that the Su(Hw) insulator can interfere with proper interaction between the protein complexes involved in the P transposition.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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As the source of P transposase (ROBERTSON et al. 1988), we used the w1, P[ry+
2-3](99B), Sb e/TM1, e strain. The transposase gene P[ry+
2-3](99B) was abbreviated as
2-3. The frequency of transposition from the X chromosome to autosomes was examined in the F1 progeny of y ac w1118 P(y+; w+);
2-3 Sb/+ males individually crossed to five to six y w/y w or y1u1 scD1 w/y1u1 scD1 w females. The frequencies of transposition were calculated as the number of y w/Y; P(y+; w+) or y1u1 scD1 w/Y; P(y+; w+) males (with pigmented eyes and cuticle) divided by the total number of scored y w/Y or y1u1 scD1 w/Y males (with yellow cuticle and white eyes). The frequencies of nondisjunction [appearance of y ac w1118 P(y+; w+) males in the F1 progeny] were in the range of 312%.The y2 scD1 w; P[ry+
2-3](99B) mod(mdg4)u1 Sb/TM6 line was constructed to examine the P transpositions on the mod(mdg4)u1 background. The frequency of transpositions on the mod(mdg4)u1 background was examined in the progeny of y ac w1118 P(y+; w+);
2-3 Sb mod(mdg4)u1/mod(mdg4)u1 males individually crossed to five to six y w/y w or y1u1 scD1 w/y1u1 scD1 w females.
The dominant effect of the mod(mdg4)u1 mutation was examined in the progeny of the cross of y ac w1118 P(y+; w+);
2-3 Sb mod(mdg4)u1/mod(mdg4)+ males with y w females. The frequency of transposition in the mod(mdg4)u1/mod(mdg4)T6 trans-heterozygote was examined in the progeny of y ac w1118 P(y+; w+);
2-3 Sb mod(mdg4)u1/mod(mdg4)T6 males crossed to y w females. Details of the crosses used for genetic analysis and for excision of the Su(Hw) insulator are available upon request.
Transgenic constructs:
The ESY and ES(893)YSW transgenic lines were obtained previously and described in MURAVYOVA et al. (2001). The WS transgenic lines were obtained from A. Golovnin.
The 8-kb fragment containing the yellow gene was kindly provided by P. Geyer. The 3-kb SalI-BamHI fragment containing the yellow regulatory region (yr) was subcloned into BamHI + XhoI-digested pGEM7 (yr plasmid). The 5-kb BamHI-BglII fragment containing the coding region (yc) was subcloned into CaSpeR3 (C3-yc). The yellow regulatory region with the Su(Hw) inserted at 893 bp (yr-su) was described in MURAVYOVA et al. (2001).
The 430-bp gypsy sequence containing the Su(Hw)-binding region was PCR amplified from the gypsy retrotransposon. After sequencing to confirm its identity, the product was inserted between two loxP sites [lox(su)]. The lox(su) fragment was blunt ligated into a CaSpeR2 vector treated with BglII [C2-lox(su)]. The 5-kb BamHI-BglII fragment containing the coding region (yc) was subcloned into CaSpeR2-lox(su), (C2-lox(su)-yc, or CaSpeR3 (C3-yc). The modified Caspew15 vector (Caspew15-su) containing the Su(Hw) insertion from the 3' side of the mini-white gene was obtained from A. Golovnin.
For (S)WS, the lox(su) fragment was ligated into Caspew15-su treated with XbaI; for ESY(S)W, the yr-su fragment was ligated into C2-lox(su)-yc treated with XbaI and BamHI; and for E(S)YW, the lox(su) fragment was ligated into yr treated with Eco47III at position 893 [yr-lox(su)]. The yr-lox(su) fragment was ligated into C3-yc treated with XbaI and BamHI. For EY(S)W, the yr fragment was ligated into C2-lox(su)-yc treated with XbaI and BamHI.
| RESULTS |
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Mod(mdg4)-67.2 is essential for suppression of P transpositions by the Su(Hw) insulator:
To find out if other components of the Su(Hw) insulator in addition to Mod(mdg4) are required for blocking the transpositions, we compared the frequency of transposition of the P transposon inserted at the same site before and after deletion of the Su(Hw) insulator. The Su(Hw) insulator was flanked by Cre recognition target (LOX) sites to permit its excision from transgenic flies by crossing the latter with flies expressing Cre recombinase (SIEGAL and HARTL 2000). The Su(Hw) insulator flanked by LOX sites was inserted either at 893 bp, E(S)YW, or between the yellow and white genes, EY(S)W (Figure 1). Three EY(S)W and three E(S)YW transgenic lines that contain a single P transposon on the X chromosome were established. The frequency of transposition was examined in these transgenic lines and their derivatives were generated by deletion of Su(Hw) on the wild-type or the mod(mdg4)u1 mutant background (Table 2). Deletion of the Su(Hw) insulator significantly increased the frequency of transposition only in the former case. The inability of the mod(mdg4)u1 mutation to affect P transpositions when the Su(Hw) insulator has been deleted confirms that Mod(mdg4)-67.2 operates by interacting with the Su(Hw) insulator. The quite similar levels of P transposition on the mod(mdg4)u1 background and after deletion of the Su(Hw) insulator suggest that mainly the Mod(mdg4)-67.2 component of the Su(Hw) insulator is required for suppression of P transposition.
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The pairing between two Su(Hw) insulators does not neutralize the repression of transpositions:
We initially observed (Table 1) that insertion of one or two copies of the Su(Hw) insulator into the P transposon had a similar effect on its transpositions. As pairing between two Su(Hw) insulators neutralizes each other's enhancer-blocking activity (GAUSE et al. 1998; CAI AND SHEN 2001; MURAVYOVA et al. 2001; MELNIKOVA et al. 2002; KUHN et al. 2003), it is possible to explain the lack of significant difference in the transposition frequency between transposons with either one or two Su(Hw) insulators by location of the ESY and ES(893)YS insertions in different regions of the X chromosome.
To further examine whether the pairing between the Su(Hw) insulators can inhibit the repression of P transpositions, one of the Su(Hw) insulators in the (S)WS and ESY(S)W constructs was flanked by LOX sites (Figure 1). Two (S)WS and three ESY(S)W transgenic lines bearing a single transposon insertion at the X chromosome were examined before and after excision of the Su(Hw) insulator (Table 2). In only one [(S)WS (2)] line, the frequency of transposition was significantly reduced after deletion of the Su(Hw) insulator. In four other transgenic lines, the frequency of transposition was approximately the same for transposons with one and two copies of the Su(Hw) insulator. As in the previous experiments, the frequency of P transposition was markedly elevated on the mod(mdg4)u1 mutant background, confirming that the Su(Hw) insulator is responsible for the repression of transpositions in all transgenic lines tested. Thus, the pairing between two Su(Hw) insulators inserted between the ends of the P transposon does not appreciably neutralize the blocking of its transposition.
| DISCUSSION |
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Here we show that, in contrast to the neutralization of the enhancer blocking, pairing between two Su(Hw) insulators located between the ends of the P transposon does not significantly neutralize the repression of P transpositions. Thus, it is most likely that Mod(mdg4)-67.2 directly blocks the interaction between protein complexes bound to the ends of the P element. As shown for the BTB-containing PZLF and Bcl6 proteins, a charge pocket, formed by apposition of the two monomers, represents a molecular structure involved in recruitment of transcriptional repression complexes (MELNICK et al. 2002). It is possible that the Mod(mdg4)-67.2 dimers either directly interact with transposase complexes or recruit other proteins that interfere with the formation of the transposase complexes at the ends of the P transposon. Alternatively, Mod(mdg4)-67.2 might interact with proteins bound to the promoter region of the P transposon. Since the transposase binds to the site overlapping the promoter (KAUFMAN et al. 1989; MULLINS et al. 1989), the assumed interaction between the promoter complex and Mod(mdg4)-67.2 might interfere with the transposase binding to the P transposon. Further molecular study is required for understanding the molecular basis of the described phenomenon.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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