Oxford University Press, Nucleic Acids Research, 5(37), p. 1510-1520, 2009
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkn1065
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Differential gene expression largely accounts for the coordinated manifestation of the genetic programme underlying embryonic development and cell differentiation. The 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of eukaryotic genes can contain motifs involved in regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In the 3′-UTR of dmrt1, a key gene that functions in gonad development and differentiation, an 11-bp protein-binding motif was identified that mediates gonad-specific mRNA localization during embryonic and larval development of fish. Mutations that disrupt the 11-bp motif leading to in vitro protein-binding loss and selective transcript stabilization failure indicate a role for this motif in RNA stabilization through protein binding. The sequence motif was found to be conserved in most of the dmrt1 homologous genes from flies to humans suggesting a widespread conservation of this specific mechanism.