Identification and characterization of Drosophila relatives of the yeast transcriptional activator SNF2/SW12

The Drosophila brahma (brm) gene encodes an activator of homeotic genes that is highly related to the yeast transcriptional activator SW12 (SNF2), a potential helicase. To determine whether brm is a functional homolog of SW12 or merely a member of a family of SW12-related genes, we searched for addi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular and cellular biology 1994-01, Vol.14 (4), p.2225-2234
Main Authors: Elfring, L K, Deuring, R, McCallum, C M, Peterson, CL, Tamkun, J W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drosophila
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
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Summary:The Drosophila brahma (brm) gene encodes an activator of homeotic genes that is highly related to the yeast transcriptional activator SW12 (SNF2), a potential helicase. To determine whether brm is a functional homolog of SW12 or merely a member of a family of SW12-related genes, we searched for additional Drosophila genes related to SW12 and examined their function in yeast cells. In addition to brm, we identified one other Drosophila relative of SW12: the closely related ISWI gene. The 1,027-residue ISWI protein contains the DNA-dependent ATPase domain characteristic of the SW12 protein family but lacks the three other domains common to brm and SW12. In contrast, the ISWI protein is highly related (70% identical) to the human hSNF2L protein over its entire length, suggesting that they may be functional homologs. The DNA-dependent ATPase domains of brm and SW12, but not ISWI, are functionally interchangeable; a chimeric SW12-brm protein partially rescued the slow growth of swi2 super(-) cells and supported transcriptional activation mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor in vivo in yeast cells. The findings indicate that brm is the closes Drosophila relative of SW12 and suggest that brm and SW12 play similar roles in transcriptional activation.
ISSN:0270-7306