The T-box transcription factor Brachyury regulates expression of eFGF through binding to a non-palindromic response element

Abstract

Brachyury is a member of the T-box gene family and is required for formation of posterior mesoderm and notochord during vertebrate development. The ability of Brachyury to activate transcription is essential for its biological function, but nothing is known about its target genes. Here we demonstrate that Xenopus Brachyury directly regulates expression of eFGF by binding to an element positioned approximately 1 kb upstream of the eFGF transcription start site. This site comprises half of the palindromic sequence previously identified by binding site selection and is also present in the promoters of the human and mouse homologues of eFGF.