The SRY gene functions as a genetic switch in gonadal ridge initiating
testis determination. The mouse Sry and human SRY open reading frames
(ORFs) share a conserved DNA-binding domain (the HMG-box) yet exhibit
no additional homology outside this region. As judged by the accumula
tion of lacZ-SRY hybrid proteins in the nucleus, both the human and mo
use SRY ORFs contain a nuclear localization signal. The mouse Sry HMG-
box domain selectively binds the sequence NACAAT in vitro when challen
ged with a random pool of oligonucleotides and binds AACAAT with the h
ighest affinity. When put under the control of a heterologous promotor
, the mouse Sry gene activated transcription of a reporter gene contai
ning multiple copies of the AACAAT binding site. Activation was likewi
se observed for a GAL4-responsive reporter gene, when the mouse Sry ge
ne was linked to the DNA-binding domain of GAL4. Using this system, th
e activation function was mapped to a glutamine/histidine-rich domain.
In addition, LexA-mouse Sry fusion genes activated a LexA-responsive
reporter gene in yeast. In contrast, a GAL4-human SRY fusion gene did
not cause transcriptional activation. These studies suggest that both
the human and the mouse SRY ORFs encode nuclear, DNA-binding proteins
and that the mouse Sry ORF can function as a transcriptional activator
with separable DNA-binding and activator domains.