High impact information on Sry-delta

• The specific requirement of sry delta for bcd transcription in the female germ line constitutes an unexpected link between a zygotic gene with pleiotropic functions and the establishment of coordinates of the Drosophila egg [1].
• We show here that bcd transcription is controlled by serendipity delta (sry delta), a zygotic-lethal zinc finger protein gene [1].
• Two overlapping sites binding the Sry delta protein were identified in the bcd promoter region, a few base pairs upstream of the putative TATA box [1].
• This sry delta germ-line function was revealed by transgenic expression of a modified Sry delta protein, Sry DB56, carrying a two-finger swap [1].
• The consensus recognition sites sry beta 5'-YCAGAGATGCGCA-3' and sry delta 5'-YTAGAGATGGRAA-3' thus differ by nucleotides at four out of 13 positions [2].

Biological context of Sry-delta

• Transcriptional control of Drosophila bicoid by Serendipity delta: cooperative binding sites, promoter context, and co-evolution [3].
• Zygotic synthesis of the sry beta protein starts during nuclear division cycles 12-13, prior to cellularisation of the blastoderm, while the zygotic sry delta protein is not detectable before germ band extension (stage 10 embryos) [4].
• At least five mRNAs are transcribed from one of these genes ( EH8 ); three are zygotic transcripts, of which two are blastoderm stage-specific, whereas two others accumulate during oogenesis and are therefore matenal mRNAs [5].
• In addition, sry delta mutants display various zygotic phenotypes, ranging from abnormal embryogenesis to sex-biased adult lethality [6].
• While each of three point mutations located in the third zinc finger of sry delta drastically reduces its DNA binding affinity, a fourth mutation, located in the N-terminal region of the protein, specifically affects the cooperativity of DNA binding [6].

Anatomical context of Sry-delta

• During oogenesis, while sry delta mRNAs transcribed by nurse cells are transferred to the oocyte starting in stage 10, translation into protein occurs in the ooplasm starting in stage 12 [7].

Associations of Sry-delta with chemical compounds

• An NH2-terminal domain of the sry delta protein is essential to its specificity of in vivo interaction with chromatin [8].
• Further, several lines of evidence strongly suggest that sry delta binds to DNA as a dimer [6].

Other interactions of Sry-delta

• We compared the pattern of in vivo chromosomal binding of deleted forms of the sry delta protein fused to beta-galactosidase and expressed in Drosophila transgenic lines [8].
• Phenotypic analysis of sry delta hemizygote escaper males further suggests that sry delta may be involved in regulation of two different sets of genes: genes required for viability and genes involved in gonadal development [9].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Sry-delta

• A single sry delta consensus binding site (SDCS), in either orientation, is sufficient to promote transcription activation in cell culture, and multiple SDCSs mediate a strong synergistic activation, reflecting the cooperativity of sry delta binding to DNA [6].

References