# Identification of a novel ovine LH-beta promoter region, which dramatically enhances its promoter activity

## TL;DR

Researchers identified a new promoter region in sheep that significantly boosts gene activity related to reproduction.

## Contribution

A novel ovine LH-beta promoter region was identified and shown to enhance promoter activity significantly.

## Key findings

- A 1,224 bp upstream region of the ovine LH-beta gene was identified and confirmed.
- The novel 503 bp region significantly increased promoter activity compared to the known region.
- The region contains multiple transcription factor binding sites and palindrome sequences.

## Abstract

The luteinizing hormone beta subunit (LH-beta) gene plays a critical role in reproduction. In order to characterize and analyze the promoter region of LH-beta in sheep, a genomic library was constructed in phage lambda gt 10 and screened. A novel region of 1,224 bp upstream from the targeted LH-beta gene was identified. Blasting this sequence showed a perfect homology for the first 721 bp sequence with an upstream ovine LH-beta sequence in the database. However, the remaining 5′-503 bp showed no sequence matching. DNA from Moroccan breeds was isolated and the whole region was amplified and confirmed by sequencing. To further confirm the promoter activity of this region, an in vitro analysis using a luciferase assay was carried out. An increase in the promoter activity of the whole region was demonstrated compared to the empty vector. More interestingly, the unpublished region significantly enhanced the promoter activity compared to the known region alone. To predict putative transcription factor binding-sites (TFBSs), an in silico analysis was performed using the TFSEARCH program. The region features many TFBSs and contains two palindrome sequences of 17- and 18-bp. Taken together, a novel region was identified and confirmed in sheep which contained a promoter activity rich with binding sites for a putative regulatory element as shown in silico.

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-015-1182-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.