Affiliation:
1. Pasteur Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Department of Biology and Biotechnology “Charles Darwin,” Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
2. Institute of Biology and Molecular Pathology, National Research Council of Italy, 00185 Rome, Italy
Abstract
In Neurospora crassa and other filamentous fungi, light-dependent–specific phenomena are regulated by transcription factors WC-1 and WC-2. In addition to its transcriptional activity, WC-1 is able to directly sense light stimuli through a LOV sensor domain. Its location in the nucleus and heterodimerization with WC-2, together with the presence of a zinc-finger DNA-binding domain and an environmental sensor domain, all resemble the functional evolutionary architecture adopted by vertebrate nuclear receptors (NRs). Here we describe a scenario in which WC-1 represents a functional orthologue of NRs and acts through association with the chromatin-modifying coactivator NGF-1, which encodes a homologue of the yeast Gcn5p acetyltransferase. To support this view, we show a direct association between WC-1 and NGF-1 that depends on a WC-1 region containing a conserved functional LXXLL motif, a signature previously described as being an exclusive feature of NR/coactivator interaction. Our data suggest that a WC-1/NGF-1 complex is preassembled in the dark on light-inducible promoters and that, after exposure to light stimulation, NGF-1–associated HAT activity leads to histone H3 acetylation and transcriptional activation. Finally, we provide evidence for a NGF-1–independent acetylated form of WC-1. Overall our data indicate that Neurospora and higher eukaryotes share a common mechanism for the signal transduction of environmental stimuli.
Publisher
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
Subject
Cell Biology,Molecular Biology
Cited by
43 articles.
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