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Polyubiquitin RNA characteristics and conditional induction in sea urchin embryos.

A cDNA of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was identified as encoding polyubiquitin and used to detect a single gene with transcripts containing multiple ubiquitin coding units. Polyubiquitin transcripts exist as a 3.2-kb RNA in polyribosomes and as three higher molecular weight RNAs in purified nuclei. The amount of polyubiquitin RNA is essentially constant at 10(4) -10(5) transcripts per embryo during the egg-to-blastula period and then declines during further development. Heat shock elicits a transient increase in the level of polyubiquitin RNA, while Zn(II) ions induce a sustained accumulation, that is influenced by developmental parameters: One round of Zn(II) induction elicits the accumulation of the nuclear 7.6- and 5.6-kb RNAs, as well as the 3.2-kb polysomal RNA; however, a second round of induction yields only the 5.6- and 3.2-kb RNAs, suggestive of a change in pre-mRNA size or processing. Polyubiquitin RNA is expressed equally in ectodermal and mesoendodermal tissues and is induced in both tissue fractions by treatment of pluteus larvae with Zn(II). However, in isolated and cultured tissue fractions, polyubiquitin RNA is not inducible by Zn(II), in contrast to the full inducibility of metallothionein mRNAs. Polyubiquitin RNA induction thus appears to be conditioned by the integrity of the embryo, as well as by previous exposure to inducer.

Amino Acid Sequence

Allelic polymorphism of the Trypanosoma brucei polyubiquitin gene.

We have characterized a second T. brucei polyubiquitin gene (UbB) that is highly similar in the coding and flanking regions to a previously described T. brucei polyubiquitin gene (UbA). However, UbB differs from UbA in 2 respects: (1) the predicted carboxy-terminal amino acid of UbB is methionine, as opposed to leucine in UbA, and (2) UbB contains approximately 13 ubiquitin repeats, as opposed to approximately 30 repeats in UbA. In Southern blots of intact T. brucei DNA separated by pulsed field gel electrophoresis, the polyubiquitin sequences have been shown to reside on band 19, which may contain 3 chromosomes. Three experiments that target a neomycin-resistance gene to the polyubiquitin locus demonstrate a one-to-one ratio of polyubiquitin 3-flanking sequences, which suggests that UbA and UbB are alleles rather than duplications. Four additional strains of T. brucei and one strain of T. equiperdum show variation in their polyubiquitin gene size, suggesting that this is a common polymorphism.

Alleles

Evolutionarily conserved structure of the 3' non-translated region of a Chinese hamster polyubiquitin gene.

From a V79 Chinese hamster genomic library, we isolated a clone containing a polyubiquitin gene (designated as CHUB1), and determined its nucleotide sequence. The coding region of the CHUB1 gene consisted of five direct repeats of the ubiquitin unit with no spacer, followed by a single tyrosine residue. Northern hybridization analysis with a synthesized probe specific to the 3' non-translated region of the CHUB1 gene revealed that it codes for a 1.8 kb mRNA. An evident homology to the human polyubiquitin gene UbB and the chicken UbI gene was observed in the region corresponding to the full extent of the mature mRNA sequence, suggesting that these three genes belong to a common polyubiquitin gene subfamily, and that the sequence in the 3' non-translated region of the CHUB1 gene is unique to this subfamily.

Amino Acid Sequence

Pathogen Species-Specific Differences in Induction of the Maize Polyubiquitin Gene Promoter in Transgenic Wheat.

The maize polyubiquitin promoter (ZmUbi) is a mainstay in molecular biology for transgene expression and is used for constitutive expression of defense-related gene products. Transgenic wheat lines were produced expressing a ZmUbi-RUBY reporter gene that produces the red pigment betalain. Some lines showed transgene silencing with reduced RUBY transcript accumulation and chimeric sectors of betalain. Infection of these plants with Blumeria graminis, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (Pgt), or P. triticina (Pt) each resulted in localized betalain accumulation at infection sites and increased RUBY transcript accumulation. In contrast, two isolates of P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) caused no detectable RUBY transcript accumulation and no visible betalain accumulation at infection sites, although a modest betalain increase was detected in infected tissue extracts. Compared with Pst, Pgt more strongly induced host genes involved in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory processes, although no obvious pathogen-induced changes in ZmUbi promoter methylation were observed. ZmUbi-GUS transgenic wheat plants were also pathogen challenged, and, unlike Pst, both Pgt and Pt induced localized GUS staining at infection sites. Database mining showed that the endogenous maize polyubiquitin gene from which ZmUbi is derived was pathogen inducible, albeit in a species-specific fashion. These pathogen differences in ZmUbi induction have implications when using this regulatory element to express defense-related transgenes in wheat. Comparing the resistance efficacy of transgenes against different pathogens using this promoter is potentially influenced by significant, localized expression differences occurring at infection sites of different pathogen species. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Promoter Regions, Genetic

Structure of the macronuclear polyubiquitin gene in Euplotes.

The hypotrichous ciliate, Euplotes eurystomus, contains both a transcriptionally inactive micronucleus (MIC) and a transcriptionally active macronucleus (MAC) in the same cell. MAC DNA is small (0.5-20 kb), linear and highly amplified. Each DNA fragment consists of two telomeres, a single coding region, and the necessary control elements to regulate gene transcription and replication. The polyubiquitin gene consists of 898 bp, plus 28 bp of double-stranded and 14 bases of single-stranded DNA of the telomeric repeat G4T4 at each end. The coding region exists as three copies of the ubiquitin gene (690 bp) fused in a head-to-tail arrangement as in other organisms. The stop codon is TAA, as in other Euplotes genes, and is not the rare glutamine codon used in most other ciliates. The 3' nontranslated region contains two presumptive poly(A) addition sites; the 5' nontranslated region possesses two putative TATA boxes, several imperfect direct and inverted repeats, and a possible origin of replication. Nucleosome positioning studies reveal four tightly packed nucleosomes and a non-nucleosomal area containing the probable 5' control region as well as part of the coding region. The 5' area does not contain any DNAse I hypersensitive sites. Although the telomeres are protected from exonuclease digestion, they are not as well protected as Oxytricha telomeres against endonucleases and cleavage by methidium propyl Fe2+ EDTA.

Amino Acid Sequence

Expression of the polyubiquitin-encoding gene (ubq-1) in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans.

The expression of the polyubiquitin-encoding gene (ubq-1) of Caenorhabditis elegans was analysed using transgenic nematode lines carrying translational ubq-1::lacZ fusions. Animals carrying a construct consisting of 938 bp of ubq-1 upstream sequences fused to lacZ (ubq938::lacZ) expressed beta Gal in embryos and in a tissue-general manner in 20% of L1 larvae. Somatic expression in later stages was usually confined to body muscle. Progressively larger deletions extending from the 5' end of ubq938::lacZ did not significantly alter the pattern of expression until 827 bp of sequence had been removed. Thus, sequences upstream from the transcription start point, including a G+C-rich block and a sequence resembling a TATA box (GAATAA), are not required to generate the expression pattern seen with ubq938::lacZ. Moreover, a basal level of expression was maintained in embryos when 903 bp were deleted. These results suggest that the promoter elements required for efficient expression of ubq-1 may reside within the transcribed region of the gene; alternatively, they must lie more than 1.7 kb upstream or 0.8 kb downstream from this region. Polymerase chain reaction analysis indicates that RNA molecules transcribed from the ubq938::lacZ and ubq delta 827::lacZ transgenes are trans-spliced to SL1, as is ubq-1 RNA.

Animals

Ligand-induced polyubiquitination of the platelet-derived growth factor beta-receptor.

We have analyzed the nature of ligand-induced shift to higher molecular weight forms of the beta-receptor for platelet-derived growth factor expressed in porcine aortic endothelial cells. The modification of the beta-receptor was found to be due to polyubiquitination, as judged by immunoblotting using an anti-ubiquitin antiserum. A mutant beta-receptor made kinase negative by a point mutation (K634A mutant) did not undergo ubiquitination in response to ligand stimulation. A mutant in which carboxyl-terminal 98 amino acids were deleted (CT98 mutant) and which retained kinase activity was likewise not ubiquitinated. These data suggest that the kinase activity, as well as the carboxyl-terminal 98 amino acids, is required for ubiquitination of the beta-receptor. Ligand-induced degradation of the receptor-bound ligand, as well as of the receptor itself, was partially impaired in the CT98-receptor-expressing cells, suggesting that the ubiquitination is of importance for efficient degradation of the ligand-receptor complex.

Animals

Maize polyubiquitin genes: structure, thermal perturbation of expression and transcript splicing, and promoter activity following transfer to protoplasts by electroporation.

Two genomic clones (lambda Ubi-1 and lambda Ubi-2) encoding the highly conserved 76 amino acid protein ubiquitin have been isolated from maize. Sequence analysis shows that both genes contain seven contiguous direct repeats of the protein coding region in a polyprotein conformation. The deduced amino acid sequence of all 14 repeats is identical and is the same as for other plant ubiquitins. The use of transcript-specific oligonucleotide probes shows that Ubi-1 and Ubi-2 are expressed constitutively at 25 degrees C but are inducible to higher levels at elevated temperatures in maize seedlings. Both genes contain an intron in the 5' untranslated region which is inefficiently processed following a brief, severe heat shock. The transcription start site of Ubi-1 has been determined and a transcriptional fusion of 0.9 kb of the 5' flanking region and the entire 5' untranslated sequence of Ubi-1 with the coding sequence of the gene encoding the reporter molecule chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) has been constructed (pUBI-CAT). CAT assays of extracts of protoplasts electroporated with this construct show that the ubiquitin gene fragment confers a high level of CAT expression in maize and other monocot protoplasts but not in protoplasts of the dicot tobacco. Expression from the Ubi-1 promoter of pUBI-CAT yields more than a 10-fold higher level of CAT activity in maize protoplasts than expression from the widely used cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter of a 35S-CAT construct. Conversely, in tobacco protoplasts CAT activity from transcription of pUBI-CAT is less than one tenth of the level from p35S-CAT.

Amino Acid Sequence

Localization of the human UBC polyubiquitin gene to chromosome band 12q24.3.

The localization of specific human ubiquitin genes has not been straightforward because of the conservation of the ubiquitin coding sequence and the number of processed pseudogenes. An congruent to 1.4-kb sequence from the 5'-flanking region of the UBC gene has been shown to be unique to that locus and free from dispersed repeat elements. The cloned 5'-flanking fragment has been used to probe Southern blots of DNA obtained from somatic cell hybrid cell lines. These data indicate that the UBC gene is located on chromosome 12. In situ hybridization with the 5'-flanking probe has refined the assignment to the broad chromosomal subband 12q24.3. These data show that the active ubiquitin genes are not clustered and are located on separate chromosomes. In addition, these studies demonstrate the utility of intron or flanking sequence probes in the specific chromosomal assignment of members of highly conserved gene families.

Chromosome Mapping

Induced accumulation of polyubiquitin gene transcripts in HeLa cells after UV-irradiation and TPA-treatment.

There are three species of ubiquitin gene transcripts in HeLa cells, termed UbA (approximately 0.7 kb), UbB (approximately 1.1 kb) and UbC (approximately 2.5 kb). In the present report, the UbC transcript was shown to accumulate up to 2.5-fold after irradiation with UV light or treatment with the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The kinetic analysis indicated that the induced accumulation of UbC was rapid and transient; maximal accumulation of UbC was induced at 2.5 h after UV irradiation or 3 h after TPA treatment. Inhibition of a de novo protein synthesis by cycloheximide did not repress the induction of UbC after treatment with UV light and TPA. On the other hand, induction of UbA and UbB, in most cases, was not observed. UV-inducibility of human ubiquitin conjugating enzyme, E2(17k), was also tested. E2(17k) is a protein with high sequence similarity to the product of yeast DNA repair gene, RAD6. While the RAD6 gene has been reported to be inducible by UV light, no change in E2(17k) gene transcript was observed after UV irradiation.

Cycloheximide

A ubiquitin C-terminal isopeptidase that acts on polyubiquitin chains. Role in protein degradation.

In the ubiquitin (Ub) pathway, proteins are ligated with polyUb chains and then are degraded by a 26 S protease complex. We describe an enzyme, called isopeptidase T, that acts on polyUb chains. It is a monomeric Ub-binding protein abundant in erythrocytes and reticulocytes. The activity of the isopeptidase is inhibited by iodoacetamide and Ub aldehyde. Treatment of the enzyme with Ub aldehyde increased its affinity for free Ub, indicating the existence of two different Ub-binding sites and cooperativity between the two sites. Isopeptidase T acts on polyUb-protein conjugates, but not on conjugates in which the formation of polyUb chains was prevented by the use of reductively methylated Ub or on abnormal polyUb chains formed with a mutant Ub that contains a Lys----Arg substitution at residue 48. The enzyme converts high molecular mass polyUb-protein conjugates to lower molecular mass forms with the release of free Ub, but not of free protein substrate. The lower molecular mass Ub-protein conjugate products are resistant to further action of the enzyme. Isopeptidase T stimulates protein degradation in a system reconstituted from purified enzyme components. The enzyme also stimulates the degradation of proteins ligated to polyUb chains by the 26 S protease complex. Preincubation of polyUb-protein conjugates with the isopeptidase did not much increase their susceptibility to proteolysis by the 26 S complex. On the other hand, preincubation of conjugates with the 26 S protease complex and ATP increased the release of free Ub upon further incubation with the isopeptidase. It thus seems that a role of this isopeptidase in protein breakdown is to remove polyUb chain remnants following the degradation of the protein substrate moiety by the 26 S complex.

Animals

Expression of stress-responsive ubiquitin genes in potato tubers.

The stress-induced expression of four different ubiquitin-encoding cDNAs was characterized in potato tuber tissue. The four clones exhibited differences in both structure and expression. The first cDNA encoded a single ubiquitin unit fused to an 80 amino acid ribosomal extension protein identical to the extension protein from tomato. Accumulation of the fusion transcript was induced by injury or ethylene, but not by heat shock. The three remaining ubiquitin cDNAs encoded polyubiquitins with 6 to 7 ubiquitin repeats. The first polyubiquitin gene was induced by injury, heat, or ethylene treatments. The second was induced also by injury or heat, with limited ethylene-dependent accumulation of transcript. Transcript levels of the third polyubiquitin gene were highest in control tubers and decreased markedly with injury, heat shock, or ethylene treatment. The data demonstrate the independent regulation of the different members of the ubiquitin gene family in response to stress and exogenous ethylene.

Amino Acid Sequence

An in planta induced gene of Phytophthora infestans codes for ubiquitin.

An in planta induced gene of Phytophthora infestans (the causal organism of potato late blight) was selected from a genomic library by differential hybridization using labelled cDNA derived from poly(A)+ RNA of P. infestans grown in vitro and labelled cDNA made from potato-P. infestans interaction poly(A)+ RNA as probes. Sequence analysis showed that the gene codes for ubiquitin, a highly conserved protein which plays an important role in several cellular processes. The structure of the polyubiquitin gene (designated ubi3R) is consistent with the structure of other known polyubiquitin genes. It consists of three repeats in a head-to-tail arrangement without intervening sequences, each encoding a ubiquitin unit of 76 amino acids. The last ubiquitin unit is followed by an extra asparagine residue at the carboxy-terminal end. Northern and Southern blot analyses revealed that the polyubiquitin gene is a member of a multigene family, all genes of which show induced expression in planta.

Amino Acid Sequence

Timing of the appearance of ubiquitinated histones in developing new macronuclei of Tetrahymena thermophila.

Vegetative cells of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila contain a transcriptionally active macronucleus and a transcriptionally inert micronucleus. During vegetative growth, macronuclear histones H2A and H2B and micronuclear H2A are ubiquitinated. Despite differences in function, macro- and micro-nuclei are related. During conjugation (the sexual phase of the life cycle in Tetrahymena), postzygotic division products of micronuclei give rise to new micro- and macro-nuclei. Using an anti-ubiquitin antibody in Western blotting experiments, we determined the levels of ubiquitinated histones in new macro- and micro-nuclei at various times during conjugation. Very soon after the second postzygotic division (approximately 8 h) when new macronuclei begin to synthesize RNA, ubiquitinated H2B and polyubiquitinated H2A are present. At this time micronuclei have only low levels of ubiquitinated H2A. During later stages of conjugation (15 h), the level of polyubiquitinated H2A decreases, while ubiquitinated H2B increases in developing new macronuclei, attaining levels of ubiquitinated H2B approaching that of parental macronuclei. Ubiquitinated histones are not detectable in the 15-h micronuclei. These results show that ubiquitination of H2B coincides with the transformation of an inert germinal nucleus into that of a transcriptionally active somatic nucleus, suggesting that ubiquitinated H2B has a role in maintaining the transcriptionally active chromatin state.

Animals

Overexpression of three ubiquitin genes in mouse epidermal tumors is associated with enhanced cellular proliferation and stress.

A mouse ubiquitin clone that recognizes multiple transcripts overexpressed in murine tumors compared to normal epidermis was isolated by differential screening of complementary DNA libraries from mouse squamous cell carcinomas. Coding region probes detected five ubiquitin transcripts. Oligonucleotides were designed for unique parts of three mouse ubiquitin gene complementary DNA clones. The overexpressed transcripts at 2.4, 2.8, 6.4, and 7.8 kilobases (kb) were detected by an oligonucleotide specific for a mouse UbC polyubiquitin clone. A 1.2-kb UbB overexpressed transcript was detected by an oligonucleotide for a mouse four-unit polyubiquitin, and a 0.7-kb UbA overexpressed transcript was recognized by an oligonucleotide for the mouse ubiquitin carboxyl-extension protein of 52 amino acids. All three classes of transcripts were induced in mouse skin by the hyperproliferative agent ethylphenyl propionate and by the tumor promoting agent 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13- acetate. Heat shock of cultured keratinocytes induced both the 6.4- and 7.8-kb transcripts recognized by the UbC-specific oligonucleotide. Consistent with the overexpression of the ubiquitin transcripts, the level of free ubiquitin protein, as determined by Western analysis, was elevated in the tumors and proliferating epidermis as compared to normal epidermis. Our results indicate that the overexpression of ubiquitin genes could be related to a sustained state of proliferation and stress in the tumors compared to the normal resting epidermis.

Alkynes

Methylated ubiquitin inhibits cyclin degradation in clam embryo extracts.

A derivative of ubiquitin in which amino groups were blocked by reductive methylation was used to study the possible role of the ubiquitin pathway in the cell cycle-programmed degradation of cyclin. It was shown previously that methylated ubiquitin can be efficiently ligated to protein substrates, but cannot form polyubiquitin chains. In the well-characterized ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic system from reticulocytes, it was found that rates of protein breakdown obtained with methylated ubiquitin are generally slower than those with ubiquitin; and thus, this derivative can be used, in some cases, as an inhibitor of ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation. The addition of methylated ubiquitin to a cell-free system from fertilized clam oocytes inhibited the degradation of both cyclins A and B. That this was due to specific interference with ubiquitin function was indicated by the observation that the supplementation of excess ubiquitin completely overcame the inhibitory action of methylated ubiquitin on cyclin degradation. These findings suggest that polyubiquitin chain formation is required for cyclin degradation.

Animals

Ubiquitin-encoding mRNA and mRNA recognized by genes encoding ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes are differentially expressed in division-synchronized cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were synchronized by a light/dark illumination cycle of 14:10 h. All cells divided within the first 2 h of the dark period, the synchronization index was calculated as 0.916. RNA was isolated every 2 h and hybridized to 32P-labeled probes encoding (i) ubiquitin from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (UBM) and (ii) two different ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (UBC2 and UBC3). Sequences with homology to yeast UBC2 and UBC3, which are required for sporulation/DNA repair and G1/S transition in yeast, respectively, were detected in C. reinhardtii. In the algae, the relative abundance of transcripts encoding ubiquitin fusion proteins and UBC2 homologues is most prominent at the end of the light phase and throughout the dark. The highest amount of a putative polyubiquitin encoding transcript was detected during the dark phase of the synchronized culture. A high amount of this transcript is also present during the 8th hour of the light phase which may imply that the transcription of polyubiquitin gene is not only restricted to stress conditions in C. reinhardtii. The relative abundance of transcripts with homology to UBC3 is most pronounced within the light period corresponding to G1 and S phases of the C. reinhardtii cell cycle.

Animals

Differential gene expression during germination and after the induction of adventitious bud formation in Norway spruce embryos.

A pulse treatment of embryos of Norway spruce with cytokinin suppresses germinative development and induces the coordinate formation of adventitious buds from subepidermal cell layers. To analyse the patterns of gene expression associated with germination and the alterations induced by the bud induction treatment, we have isolated cDNA clones corresponding to genes that are differentially expressed in cytokinin-treated and untreated in vitro germinating embryos. One category of 14 clones hybridized to transcripts that were abundant specifically during germination. The expression of 8 of these genes was reduced by the bud induction treatment. Four clones, including one identified as a histone H2A gene, recognized transcripts that showed an increased abundance in bud-induced versus in vitro germinating embryos. A second category of 13 clones hybridized to transcripts that increased in abundance during post-germinative development of the seedling. Among these a subset of 8 clones, including an alpha-tubulin clone, corresponds to genes suppressed by the bud induction treatment, whereas 5 clones, including a gene with sequence similarity to polyubiquitin, were unaffected by the treatment. One clone hybridized to a message abundant in the seed, during early germination as well as in the vegetative bud, and showed 60% partial sequence identity to a barley (1----3)-beta-glucanase gene. Genes expressed exclusively in bud-induced or in vitro germinating embryos were not found. The results show that a major difference in gene expression between treated and untreated embryos is related to the shift from extensive cell proliferation to elongation and differentiation that occurs at the transition from germination to post-germinative development, and which is suppressed in the bud-induced embryos.

Amino Acid Sequence