THE PLANT CELL, Vol 1, Issue 10 1025-1034, Copyright © 1989 by American Society of Plant Biologists
Interaction of a Developmentally Regulated DNA-Binding Factor with Sites Flanking Two Different Fruit-Ripening Genes from Tomato
S. Cordes, J. Deikman, L. J. Margossian and R. L. Fischer
Department of Plant Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
To investigate mechanisms that control fruit development, we have begun
experiments to identify proteins that control gene expression during tomato
fruit ripening. We focused on the regulation of two different genes, E4 and
E8, whose transcription is coordinately activated at the onset of fruit
ripening. We report here that a DNA-binding protein specifically reacts
with similar sequences flanking the E4 and E8 genes. The E4 binding site is
at position -34 to -18 and, therefore, overlaps the region (TATA box) that
in many eukaryotic genes serves to determine the efficiency and initiation
site of transcription. In contrast, the E8 binding site is distal, located
at -936 to -920 relative to the start of E8 gene transcription. Gel
electrophoresis mobility retardation experiments indicate that the DNA
binding activity that interacts with these two sites increases at the onset
of fruit ripening. Taken together, these results suggest that this
DNA-binding protein may function to coordinate E4 and E8 gene expression
during fruit ripening.
