TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION AND ALTERNATIVE SPLICING OF AN EARLY ZYGOTICGENE ENCODING 2 STRUCTURALLY DISTINCT ZINC-FINGER PROTEINS IN XENOPUS-LAEVIS

We describe the structural organization of a gene, termed XFDL 141/156 , that is transiently activated during early Xenopus development. XFDL 141/156 is first transcribed at the midblastula transition (MBT) and during early gastrulation events. A roughly 200 nucleotide fragment im mediately 5' to the transcription start site is sufficient for transie nt, early zygotic activation of gene expression. The primary transcrip t is subject to alternative splicing. Corresponding cDNAs encode two s tructurally related but completely distinct C2H2-type zinc finger prot eins of unknown biological function. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.