dELL is an essential RNA polymerase II elongation factor with a general role in development

doi:10.1073/pnas.152193699

dELL is an essential RNA polymerase II elongation factor with a general role in development

^*Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, St. Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63104; ^‡School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588; and ^§Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-2785

Edited by Michael S. Levine, University of California, Berkeley, CA, and approved May 21, 2001 (received for review April 2, 2002)

Abstract

Several eukaryotic proteins increase RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription rates in vitro. The relative contributions of these factors to gene expression in vivo is unknown. The ELL family of proteins promote Pol II elongation in vitro, and the Drosophila ELL homolog (dELL) is associated with Pol II at sites of transcription in vivo. The purpose of this study was to test whether an ELL family protein is required for gene expression in vivo. We show that dELL is encoded by the Suppressor of Triplo-lethal locus [Su(Tpl)]. We have characterized seven distinct mutant alleles of Su(Tpl) and show that a dELL transgene rescues recessive lethality of Su(Tpl). Su(Tpl) mutations cause abnormal embryonic segmentation and dominantly modify expression of diverse genes during development. These data show that an ELL family elongation factor is essential, acts broadly in development, and is not functionally redundant to other elongation factors in vivo.

Footnotes

↵ † To whom reprint requests may be addressed. E-mail: eissenjc{at}slu.edu or shilatia{at}slu.edu.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Abbreviations:

Pol II,

polymerase II;

Su(Tpl),

Suppressor of Triplo-lethal;

dELL,

Drosophila ELL homolog;

DSIF,

DRB sensitivity inducing factor