The upstream region is required but not sufficient to control mutually exclusive expression of Paramecium surface antigen genes.

Paramecium tetraurelia stock 51 can express at least 11 different surface antigens, yet only one type is found on the surface of a cell at any given time. The mechanism that controls this mutually exclusive expression is unknown. A previous study has shown that the 51A surface antigen gene is regulated at the level of transcription (Gilley, D., Rudman, B. M., Preer, J. R., Jr., and Polisky, B. (1990) Mol. Cell. Biol. 10, 1538-1544). We show here that the 51B surface antigen gene is also transcriptionally regulated, and when the 51A and 51B genes are cotransformed into an A-, B- mutant, the 51A antigen is dominant at 27 degrees C just as in wild type cells. We have utilized this cotransformation system to experimentally determine that 273 base pairs of DNA upstream of the 51A gene is sufficient to allow the dominant expression of A, but 150 base pairs is not adequate. A hybrid gene that contains the upstream region of 51B attached to the 51A transcribed region was cotransformed with the 51B gene into the A-, B- mutant. Despite containing the same upstream sequences, only the hybrid 51B/A was transcribed at 27 degrees C. These results suggest the upstream region is required but not sufficient for mutually exclusive transcriptional control.