A maize zinc-finger protein binds the prolamin box in zein gene promoters and interacts with the basic leucine zipper transcriptional activator Opaque2

摘要

The prolamin box (P-box) is a highly con- served 7-bp sequence element (5'-TGTAAAG-3') found in the promoters of many cereal seed storage protein genes. Nuclear factors from maize endosperm specifically interact with the P-box present in maize prolamin genes (zeins). The presence of the P-box in all zein gene promoters suggests that interac- tions between endosperm DNA binding proteins and the P-box may play an important role in the coordinate activation of zein gene expression during endosperm development.