PUBLICATION

Conservation defines functional motifs in the squint/nodal-related 1 RNA dorsal localization element

Authors
Gilligan, P.C., Kumari, P., Lim, S., Cheong, A., Chang, A., and Sampath, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-101222-16
Date
2011
Source
Nucleic acids research   39(8): 3340-9 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Chang, Alex (Kuok Weai), Cheong, Albert, Gilligan, Patrick, Kumari, Pooja, Lim, Shi Min, Sampath, Karuna
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • 3' Untranslated Regions*
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Binding Sites
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/chemistry
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Fish Proteins/genetics*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nodal Signaling Ligands/genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger/analysis
  • RNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
PubMed
21149265 Full text @ Nucleic Acids Res.
Abstract
RNA localization is emerging as a general principle of sub-cellular protein localization and cellular organization. However, the sequence and structural requirements in many RNA localization elements remain poorly understood. Whereas transcription factor-binding sites in DNA can be recognized as short degenerate motifs, and consensus binding sites readily inferred, protein-binding sites in RNA often contain structural features, and can be difficult to infer. We previously showed that zebrafish squint/nodal-related 1 (sqt/ndr1) RNA localizes to the future dorsal side of the embryo. Interestingly, mammalian nodal RNA can also localize to dorsal when injected into zebrafish embryos, suggesting that the sequence motif(s) may be conserved, even though the fish and mammal UTRs cannot be aligned. To define potential sequence and structural features, we obtained ndr1 3'-UTR sequences from approximately 50 fishes that are closely, or distantly, related to zebrafish, for high-resolution phylogenetic footprinting. We identify conserved sequence and structural motifs within the zebrafish/carp family and catfish. We find that two novel motifs, a single-stranded AGCAC motif and a small stem-loop, are required for efficient sqt RNA localization. These findings show that comparative sequencing in the zebrafish/carp family is an efficient approach for identifying weak consensus binding sites for RNA regulatory proteins.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping