THE PLANT CELL, Vol 3, Issue 2 159-168, Copyright © 1991 by American Society of Plant Biologists
In Vivo Footprinting Reveals Unique cis-Elements and Different Modes of Hypoxic Induction in Maize Adh1 and Adh2
A. L. Paul and R. J. Ferl
Department of Vegetable Crops, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
The transcriptional activation of maize alcohol dehydrogenase-1 (Adh1) and
alcohol dehydrogenase-2 (Adh2) is accompanied by changes in the chromatin
structure within the 5[prime]-flanking region of each gene. The positions
of DNA-binding factors bound to the 5[prime]-flanking regions were
determined by in vivo dimethyl sulfate footprinting of maize suspension
cultures over 8 hours of hypoxic induction. In Adh1 there are two types of
DNA-binding factors associated with the promoter region. One set of factors
is constitutively associated with the cis-regulatory anaerobic response
element, whereas two additional factors bind only after Adh1 has been
induced by hypoxic stress. Returning hypoxically stressed cells to an
aerobic environment restores the dimethyl sulfate footprint observed for
the uninduced Adh1 gene. In contrast, all of the factors bound to the
5[prime]-flanking region of Adh2 are constitutively present and unchanged
by hypoxia. There is one footprint site common to both Adh1 and Adh2, but
it is not an anaerobic response-like element.
