Released: 6/18/2014 1:00 PM EDT Embargo expired: 6/23/2014 3:00 PM EDT Source Newsroom: New York University Contact Information

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Newswise A team of genome scientists has identified a hit-and-run mechanism that allows regulatory proteins in the nucleus to adopt a Tom Sawyer behavior when it comes to the work of initiating gene activation.

Their research, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on transcription factorsproteins that orchestrate the flow of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA). Their results show how transcription factors (TFs) activate mRNA synthesis of a gene, and leave the scene in a model termed hit-and-run transcription.

Much like Mark Twains Tom Sawyer who begins to paint Aunt Pollys fence, and then convinces others that they are privileged join in, before leaving to relax, this pioneer transcription factor binds to a gene promoter to initiate transcription and then leaves, recruiting its friends to continue work it started, explains New York University Biology Professor Coruzzi, the studys senior author.

The transcription factor under study is crucial to activating genes needed to respond to nitrogen, a nutrient signal that is the rate-limiting element in plant growth.

Thus, in addition to uncovering a new mechanism of hit-and-run transcription, the discovery has potential practical applications to improving nitrogen responses in crop plants.

The discovery points to the possibility of re-engineering plants in ways that increase their efficiency in acquiring and assimilating nitrate, a primary source of energy that is contained in fertilizer. By reducing the amount of nitrate-based fertilizers, growers can lower the health risks associated with fertilizer runoff into ground waters.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, also included researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories and Frances National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), focuses on specific changes to Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs).

GRNs the circuit boards that dictate how the genes in living organisms interact to propagate responses to signals in their environmentare of particular interest to genomics researchers in the new field of Systems Biology, which aims to understand of how genes work together as a system. In this example, understanding how nitrogen signals are conducted through the genetic circuit board could point to ways to create more environmentally sustainable plants and crops.

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"Tom Sawyer" Regulatory Protein Initiates Gene Transcription in a Hit-and-Run Mechanism

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