Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “downstream ORF”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Evidence for translational regulation of the imprinted Snurf-Snrpn locus in mice.

In studies of genomic imprinting in the Prader-Willi/Angelman domain, an agouti coat color cassette was inserted into the downstream open reading frame (ORF) of the imprinted bicistronic Snurf-Snrpn locus in the mouse. The fusion gene was maternally silenced, as is Snurf-Snrpn, and produced a tan abdomen only when inherited paternally in otherwise-black mice. A screen for dominant epigenetic or genetic events was performed with ENU mutagenesis, using a strategy whereby variation in abdominal color was scored at weaning. One mouse with maternal origin of the fusion gene had a tan abdomen and had an imprinting defect resulting in loss of both maternal methylation and silencing of the fusion gene. One mouse with paternal origin of the fusion gene was completely yellow and was found to have an ATG-to-AAG mutation in the initiation codon of the upstream ORF encoding SNURF. Northern blotting, immunoblotting, and transfection studies indicated that the ATG-to-AAG mutation causes a 15-fold or more increase in translation of the downstream ORF in two fusion constructs, and it is likely that similar translational control affects the normal Snurf-Snrpn transcript as well.

Agouti Signaling Protein↗

Excision of the first intron from the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) transcript serves as a key regulatory step for GnRH biosynthesis.

The mammalian gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) gene consists of four short exons (denoted as 1, 2, 3, and 4) and three intervening introns (A, B, and C). Recently, we demonstrated that excision of the first intron (intron A) from the GnRH transcript is regulated in a tissue- and developmental stage-specific fashion and is severely attenuated in hypogonadal (hpg) mouse because of its lack of exonic splicing enhancers (ESE) 3 and 4. In the present study, we examined the influence of intron A on translational efficiency, thereby establishing a post-transcriptional control over GnRH biosynthesis. First, we verified that an intron A-retained GnRH transcript is a splicing variant but not a splicing intermediate. Intron A-retained transcripts can be transported to the cytoplasm in contrast to intron B-containing transcripts, which are restricted to the nucleus. This result implicates the intron A-retained GnRH transcript as a splicing variant; it has a long 5'-untranslated region, as the GnRH prohormone open reading frame (ORF) begins on exon 2. We investigated whether an intron A-retained GnRH transcript can properly initiate translation at the appropriate start codon and found that intron A completely blocks the translation initiation of its downstream reporter ORF both in vivo and in vitro. The inhibition of translation initiation appears to be due to the presence of a tandem repeat of ATG sequences within intron A. Constructs bearing mutations of ATGs to AAGs restored translation initiation at the downstream start codon; the extent of this restoration correlated with the number of mutated ATGs. Besides the failure in the translation initiation of GnRH-coding region in the intron A-containing variant, the present study also suggests that the interference between mature GnRH mRNA and intron A-retained splicing variant could occur to lower the efficiency of GnRH biosynthesis in the GT1-1-immortalized GnRH-producing cell line. Therefore, our results indicate that the precise and efficient excision of intron A and the joining of adjacent exons may be a critical regulatory step for the post-transcriptional regulation of GnRH biosynthesis.

Alternative Splicing↗

Cloning and characterization of two tandemly arranged DNA methyltransferase genes of Neisseria lactamica: an adenine-specific M.NlaIII and a cytosine-type methylase.

The gene encoding the Neisseria lactamica III DNA methyltransferase (M.NlaIII) which recognizes the sequence CATG has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. DNA sequencing of a 3.125 kb EcoRI-PstI fragment localizes the M. NlaIII gene to a 334 codon open reading frame (ORF) and identifies, 468 bp downstream, a second ORF of 313 amino acids, which is referred to as M.NlaX. Both proteins are detectable in the E. coli coupled in vitro transcription-translation system; they are apparently expressed from separate N. lactamica promoters. The N-terminal half of the previously characterized M.FokI, which methylates adenine in one of the DNA strands with its asymmetric recognition sequence (GGATG), is found to have 41% sequence identity and a further 11.7% sequence similarity with M.NlaIII. Among the conserved amino acids is the wellknown DPPY sequence motif. With one exception, analysis of the nucleotides coding for the DP dipeptide in all known DPPY sequences shows the presence of an inherent DNA adenine methylation (dam) recognition site of GATC. A low level of expression of M.NlaX in E. coli prevents the elucidation of its sequence recognition specificity. Sequence analysis of M.NlaX shows that it is closely related to the group of monospecific 5-methylcytosine DNA methyltransferases (M.EcoRII, Dcm, M.HpaII and M.HhaI) which all have a modified cytosine at the second position of the recognition sequences. Both M.EcoRII and Dcm amino acid sequences are about 50% identical with M.NlaX; a considerable degree of sequence identity is found in the so-called variable region which is believed to be responsible for sequence recognition specificity. M.NlaX is probably the counterpart to the E. coli Dcm in N. lactamica.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Nucleotide sequence of the fixABC region of Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571: similarity of the fixB product with eukaryotic flavoproteins, characterization of fixX, and identification of nifW.

The nucleotide sequence of a 4.1 kb DNA fragment containing the fixABC region of Azorhizobium caulinodans was established. The three gene products were very similar to the corresponding polypeptides of Rhizobium meliloti. The C-terminal domains of both fixB products displayed a high degree of similarity with the alpha-subunits of rat and human electron transfer flavoproteins, suggesting a role for the FixB protein in a redox reaction. Two open reading frames (ORF) were found downstream of fixC. The first ORF was identified as fixX on the basis of sequence homology with fixX from several Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium strains. The second ORF potentially encoded a 69 amino acid product and was found to be homologous to a DNA region in the Rhodobacter capsulatus nif cluster I. Insertion mutagenesis of the A. caulinodans fixX gene conferred a Nif- phenotype to bacteria growth in the free-living state and a Fix- phenotype in symbiotic association with the host plant Sesbania rostrata. A crude extract from the fixX mutant had no nitrogenase activity. Furthermore, data presented in this paper also indicate that the previously identified nifO gene located upstream of fixA was probably a homologue of the nifW gene of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Azotobacter vinelandii.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sequence analysis of a unique temperature phage: mycoplasma virus L2.

Mycoplasma virus L2 is a quasi-spherical enveloped virion containing circular double-stranded DNA. L2 infection of Acholeplasma laidlawii host cells leads to a noncytocidal productive infection cycle followed by establishment of lysogeny in all (or most) infected cells, with viral DNA integrated into the host cell genome. The L2 genome has been sequenced and analyzed. L2 DNA is 11,965-bp long and contains 15 open reading frames (ORFs). One of these, ORF13*, has its start codon within and in the same reading frame as ORF13. The ORFs are clustered in four groups separated by noncoding intergenic regions, suggesting that gene expression involves transcription of genes in a cluster into polycistronic mRNA and translation of these genes via translational coupling or reinitiation. Fifteen L2 start codon sites have been defined and resemble those of eubacteria. The N-terminal sequences of two ORFs appear to be signal peptides, and the gene product of one of these may be an L2 virion integral membrane protein. The ORF 5 product has been tentatively identified as an integrase, based on its sequence similarity to site-specific recombinases. The putative attP integration site has been mapped to an intergenic region, 280-bp downstream from ORF 5. Two putative DNA replication ori sites have been mapped. Each is in an intergenic region and contains a DnaA-box bounded by A + T-rich 6-mer repeats.

Acholeplasma laidlawii↗

Elongation factor Ts of Chlamydia trachomatis: structure of the gene and properties of the protein.

A putative structural gene cluster containing four open reading frames (ORFs) located downstream of the omp1 gene of Chlamydia trachomatis mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) was cloned and sequenced. A GenBank survey indicated that the identified cluster is similar to the rpsB-tsf-pyrH(smbA)-frr region of Escherichia coli. The second ORF was 846 bp encoding a 282-amino-acid polypeptide with a calculated M(r) 30,824. Alignment of this deduced protein sequence and E. coli elongation factor Ts (EF-Ts, product of tsf) demonstrated 34% identity and an additional 14% similarity. The putative chlamydial tsf gene was expressed in E. coli as a nonfusion protein and as a 6x His-tagged fusion protein. By SDS-PAGE analysis, the molecular weights of the nonfusion recombinant protein and a protein of chlamydial elementary bodies (EBs), which was recognized by monoclonal antibodies derived from the nonfusion recombinant protein, are 34 kDa. The purified recombinant 6x His-tagged fusion protein increased the rate of GDP exchange with both Chlamydia and E. coli elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu). These data show that the second gene of the identified cluster is tsf. Unlike EF-Ts from any other species, its activity was comparable to that of E. coli EF-Ts in exchange reaction with E. coli EF-Tu.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of a cryptic plasmid from Bacillus sphaericus strain LP1-G.

A cryptic plasmid from Bacillus sphaericus strain LP1-G, designated as pLG, was sequenced and characterized. It was an 11,066bp circular molecule, with G+C content of 37%. The plasmid pLG was predicted to encode 23 putative ORFs, and ORF 21 shared the highest identity with Rep of pGI1 and pBMB9741, members of rolling-circle replication (RCR) pC194-family. Sequence analysis revealed a pC194-type double strand origin (dso) and a single strand origin (sso) like sequence located upstream and downstream of ORF 21, respectively. Moreover, Mung bean nuclease analysis and Southern hybridization confirmed the existence of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediates, indicating that pLG belongs to the RCR pC194-family. Accumulation of multiple ssDNA intermediates in native strain LP1-G and decline of ssDNA and supercoiled DNA in rifampicin-treated strain implied that a special mechanism might be employed by pLG. Furthermore, the copy number of pLG in its original host was determined and about 58 copies of the plasmid exist in each cell. Subcloning and transformation experiments proved that the minimal replicon of pLG was within a 1.6-kb fragment, which was composed of rep gene and dso. These data are a good basis for the understanding of replication mechanisms and genetics of this B. sphaericus plasmid.

Bacillus↗

Positional preferences of polypurine/polypyrimidine tracts in Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome: implications for cis regulation of gene expression.

The complete genome of the baker's yeast S. cerevisiae was analyzed for the presence of polypurine/polypyrimidine (poly[pu/py]) repeats and their occurrences were classified on the basis of their location within and outside open reading frames (ORFs). The analysis reveals that such sequence motifs are present abundantly both in coding as well as noncoding regions. Clear positional preferences are seen when these tracts occur in noncoding regions. These motifs appear to occur predominantly at a unit nucleosomal length both upstream and downstream of ORFs. Moreover, there is a biased distribution of polypurines in the coding strands when these motifs occur within open reading frames. The significance of the biased distribution is discussed with reference to the occurrence of these motifs in other known mRNA sequences and expressed sequence tags. A model for cis regulation of gene expression is proposed based on the ability of these motifs to form an intermolecular triple helix structure when present within the coding region and/or to modulate nucleosome positioning via enhanced histone affinity when present outside coding regions.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Primary structure and expression of the Ssc-protein of Salmonella typhimurium.

A 1020-bp open reading frame (ORF) was found immediately downstream of the ompH gene of Salmonella typhimurium. This ORF (ORF-36) encodes a moderately hydrophobic protein with 341 amino acid residues (calculated molecular mass, 35,928 Da). The ORF-36 product was detected in minicells. Downstream of ORF-36, another ORF was found. It is highly homologous to the E. coli ORF (ORF-17.4) which precedes the lpx-genes involved in lipid A biosynthesis. ORF-36 is probably analogous to the firA gene of E. coli, the sequence of which has not yet been published. Thus it appears that the enterobacterial ompH and lpx genes are separated only by the ORF-36 and ORF-17.4 genes. We also discuss the data on the function of the ORF-36 protein. On this basis, we suggest that the protein could be called the Ssc protein.

Acetyltransferases↗

In vivo expression of the 29000 Mr protein from RNA-2 of pea early browning tobravirus.

The purpose of this work has been to investigate in vivo transcription and translation products from an open reading frame (ORF) located downstream of the coat protein (CP) cistron on RNA-2 of pea early browning virus (PEBV). This work was initiated as a step towards elucidation of the significance of this putative gene. Sequence data on RNA-2 suggest that a 29,600 Mr (29.6K) protein is translated from the ORF in question. Hybridization with ORF-specific probes on Northern blots with RNA from infected plants showed that PEBV synthesizes a subgenomic RNA encoding CP (RNA-2a) with a size of 3000 nucleotides (nt) and that a putative subgenomic RNA (RNA-2b) encoding the 29.6K protein appears to have a size of 1600 nt. This is 300 nt less than the size predicted from the sequencing data. For antibody production, a cDNA fragment harbouring 85% of the 29.6K ORF was cloned into the pUEX3 expression vector. The resulting plasmid expresses the 29.6K protein as a fusion protein with beta-galactosidase and this protein was used for raising antiserum containing specific anti-29.6K protein antibodies. By using these antibodies on immunoblots it was demonstrated that the 29.6K protein is expressed in infected plants.

Blotting, Northern↗

[lambda N gene expression regulated by the leader sequence].

It was reported recently that changing the TIR (translational initiation region) of lambda N gene resulted in the increasing expression of lambda N gene and it was regulated at translational level. According to the alignment, the leader sequence of lambda N gene had three parts: a code region for ORF lambda N, the upstream sequence of ORF lambda N and 17 bp of spacer between ORF lambda N and downstream of lambda N gene. ORF lambda N is an open reading frame located at upstream of lambda N gene coding a peptide of 19 amino acids. To study the mechanism of regulation of lambda N gene expression, three serials of plasmids with mutant leader region of lambda N gene were constructed. (1) pMC1403-XT, in which the start codon or the partial code of ORF lambda N was connected with lacZ to obtain the ORF lambda N-lacZ fusion gene and in which the ORF lambda N-lacZ expression was under the control of a strong trp/lac promoter; (2) The ORF lambda N mutants in which the termination codon TAA was introduced into ORF lambda N at different positions by site-directed mutagenesis to preterminate the ORF lambda N on plasmid pMC1403N; (3) Mutants in which a deletion was located at upstream ORF lambda N in the ORF lambda N mutants above. The results obtained from determination of the beta-galactosidase activity in the transformants harboring the different plasmids showed that the ORF lambda N-lacZ expression was suppressed by the ORF lambda N code region and the lambda N expression was increased in both the second and third serials of mutants. At the same time the results from RNA-DNA dot hybridization showed that the lambda N gene expression was regulated at translational level. Therefore it was predicted that the reason of relatively low expression for lambda N gene in pMC1403N was due to the low efficiency of ORF lambda N translation. There are two ways to increase the expression of lambda N gene. One is to preterminate the translation of ORF lambda N at a suitable position to decrease the ORF lambda N effects on downstream lambda N gene translation; the other is to change the upstream sequence of ORF lambda N to improve its translation efficiency.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

Dimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 36 demarcates regulatory and nonregulatory chromatin genome-wide.

Set2p, which mediates histone H3 lysine 36 dimethylation (H3K36me2) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been shown to associate with RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) at individual loci. Here, chromatin immunoprecipitation-microarray experiments normalized to general nucleosome occupancy reveal that nucleosomes within open reading frames (ORFs) and downstream noncoding chromatin were highly dimethylated at H3K36 and that Set2p activity begins at a stereotypic distance from the initiation of transcription genome-wide. H3K36me2 is scarce in regions upstream of divergently transcribed genes, telomeres, silenced mating loci, and regions transcribed by RNA polymerase III, providing evidence that the enzymatic activity of Set2p is restricted to its association with RNAP II. The presence of H3K36me2 within ORFs correlated with the "on" or "off" state of transcription, but the degree of H3K36 dimethylation within ORFs did not correlate with transcription frequency. This provides evidence that H3K36me2 is established during the initial instances of gene transcription, with subsequent transcription having at most a maintenance role. Accordingly, newly activated genes acquire H3K36me2 in a manner that does not correlate with gene transcript levels. Finally, nucleosomes dimethylated at H3K36 appear to be refractory to loss from highly transcribed chromatin. Thus, H3K36me2, which is highly conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution, provides a stable molecular mechanism for establishing chromatin context throughout the genome by distinguishing potential regulatory regions from transcribed chromatin.

Chromatin↗

Regulation of RAR beta 2 mRNA expression: evidence for an inhibitory peptide encoded in the 5'-untranslated region.

Regulation of mRNA translation and stability plays an important role in the control of gene expression during embryonic development. We have recently shown that the tissue-specific expression of the RAR beta 2 gene in mouse embryos is regulated at the translational level by short upstream open reading frames (uORFs) In the 5'-untranslated region (Zimmer, A., A.M. Zimmer, and K. Reynolds. 1994. J. Cell Biol. 127:1111-1119). To gain insight into the molecular mechanism, we have performed a systematic mutational analysis of the uORFs. Two series of constructs were tested: in one series, each uORF was individually inactivated by introducing a point mutation in its start codon; in the second series, all but one ORF were inactivated. Our results indicate that individual uORFs may have different functions. uORF4 seems to inhibit translation of the major ORF in heart and brain, while uORFs 2 and 5 appear to be important for efficient translation in all tissues. To determine whether the polypeptide encoded by uORF4 or the act of translating it, is the significant event, we introduced point mutations to create silent mutations or amino acid substitutions in uORF4. Our results indicate that the uORF4 amino acid coding sequence is important for the inhibitory effect on translation of the downstream major ORF.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Biosynthesis of the dideoxysugar component of jadomycin B: genes in the jad cluster of Streptomyces venezuelae ISP5230 for L-digitoxose assembly and transfer to the angucycline aglycone.

Eight additional genes, jadX, O, P, Q, S, T, U and V, in the jad cluster of Streptomyces venezuelae ISP5230, were located immediately downstream of jadN by chromosome walking. Sequence analyses and comparisons implicated them in biosynthesis of the 2,6-dideoxysugar in jadomycin B. The genes were cloned in Escherichia coli, inactivated by inserting an apramycin resistance cassette with a promoter driving transcription of downstream genes, and transferred into Streptomyces venezuelae by intergeneric conjugation. Analysis by HPLC and NMR of intermediates accumulated by cultures of the insertionally inactivated Streptomyces venezuelae mutants indicated that jadO, P, Q, S, T, U and V mediate formation of the dideoxysugar moiety of jadomycin B and its attachment to the aglycone. Based on these results and sequence similarities to genes described in other species producing deoxysugar derivatives, a biosynthetic pathway is proposed in which the jadQ product (glucose-1-phosphate nucleotidyltransferase) activates glucose to its nucleotide diphosphate (NDP) derivative, and the jadT product (a 4,6-dehydratase) converts this to NDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose. An NDP-hexose 2,3-dehydratase and an oxidoreductase, encoded by jadO and jadP, respectively, catalyse ensuing reactions that produce an NDP-2,6-dideoxy-D-threo-4-hexulose. The product of jadU (NDP-4-keto-2,6-dideoxy-5-epimerase) converts this intermediate to its L-erythro form and the jadV product (NDP-4-keto-2,6-dideoxyhexose 4-ketoreductase) reduces the keto group of the NDP-4-hexulose to give an activated form of the L-digitoxose moiety in jadomycin B. Finally, a glycosyltransferase encoded by jadS transfers the activated sugar to jadomycin aglycone. The function of jadX is unclear; the gene is not essential for jadomycin B biosynthesis, but its presence ensures complete conversion of the aglycone to the glycoside. The deduced amino acid sequence of a 612 bp ORF (jadR*) downstream of the dideoxysugar biosynthesis genes resembles many TetR-family transcriptional regulator sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Biochemical and genetic analysis of the unidirectional theta replication of the S. agalactiae plasmid pIP501.

pIP501 is a broad-host-range plasmid originating from Streptococcus agalactiae. In this report we show that (i) it replicates by a theta mechanism initiating at the 3' end of the gene encoding the replication protein RepR and progressing in the direction of transcription of this gene; (ii) its replication origin lies within or a few nucleotides downstream from ORF R and not upstream from it as suggested in the literature (Brantl et al. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 4783-4789); (iii) the RepR protein positively regulates pIP501 copy number; and (vi) the main function ensured by the sequences located upstream from ORF R is to express this ORF. Since the replication properties of pIP501 are indistinguishable from those of the highly related Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAM beta 1, we conclude that these elements form the first family of theta replicating plasmids in gram-positive bacteria. Based on sequence similarities, we extend this family to the S. pyogenes plasmid pSM19035 and to 12 other plasmids isolated from streptococci or enterococci.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Identification of spliced baculovirus RNAs expressed late in infection.

Previous to this study, the Autographa californica multicapsid nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) was known to express only one spliced RNA (spliced IE1 or IE0). We have conducted an analysis of RNA expressed during infection of Spodoptera frugiperda cells with AcMNPV and have identified a set of five additional spliced RNAs expressed late in infection. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis was used to confirm the identification of the LS (late, spliced) RNAs. S1 nuclease and primer extension analyses were used to map the transcription initiation sites of LS RNAs. LS1 and LS2 initiated at positions -138 and -117, respectively (relative to the IE0 +1 transcription start site). Both LS1 and LS2 contain an additional cistron potentially encoding a small, highly basic polypeptide. LS3 (-79), LS4 (-22), and LS5 (+51/52) RNAs encode only the predicted downstream IE0 ORF. Although several baculovirus late gene consensus transcription initiation sites (ATAAG) were identified within this region, only LS5 initiated at one of these conserved motifs. An S1 nuclease analysis was done to determine whether unspliced precursors of LS RNAs could be detected. Early in infection, a greater proportion of IE0 RNA was detected in the spliced form; however, during the late phase of infection a significantly greater amount of unspliced precursor forms of LS RNAs was observed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Function of a pseudoknot in the suppression of an alternative splicing event in a group I intron.

Like most mitochondrial group I introns with a free-standing open reading frame (ORF) located downstream of their catalytic core, the Sd.cob, 1 intron in the gene coding for the cytochrome b of Saccharomyces douglasii mitochondria possesses a putative proximal 3' splice site. However, incubation of Sd.cob, 1 preRNA transcripts under optimal in vitro splicing conditions essentially results in splicing at the authentic, distal 3' splice junction. The mechanism by which the proximal splicing event is suppressed in vitro involves formation of a tertiary interaction which is only found in the Sd.cob, 1 intron. Core nucleotides located in loop L5 block proximal splicing by forming Watson-Crick base pairs with the nucleotide sequence of the proximal 3' splice site. This tertiary base pairing, also important for the folding of the intron into an active conformation, may be regarded as equivalent to the L9/P5, GNRA-loop/helix interaction found in more than one-third of known group I introns.

Alternative Splicing↗

Genes encoding RubisCO in Pseudomonas hydrogenothermophila are followed by a novel cbbQ gene similar to nirQ of the denitrification gene cluster from Pseudomonas species.

The cbbL and cbbS genes, encoding ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO), were cloned and sequenced from a thermophilic hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium, Pseudomonas hydrogenothermophila strain TH-1. The cbbL gene encoded a 474-amino-acid (aa) protein (53,285 Da); cbbS encoded a 124-aa protein (14,656 Da). An ORF found downstream from the cbbLS genes encoded a 267-aa protein (29,565 Da) which had no similarity to cbbX located downstream from cbbLS from Alcaligenes eutrophus and Xanthobacter flavus. This gene, called cbbQ, was highly similar to the nirQ gene of the denitrification gene cluster from P. aeruginosa and P. stutzeri.

Alcaligenes↗