image: Small peptides switch activity of transcription factor Shavenbaby. Short ORFs of the polished rice gene encode tiny 11- or 32-amino-acid peptides, and these peptides cause N-terminal truncation of Shavenbaby. The truncated Shavenbaby, which lacks the repressor domain, then activates downstream target genes, leading to formation of epidermal cellular processes (or trichomes) during Drosophila embryogenesis. On the conversion of activity, punctate intranuclear localization of Shavenbaby turns into a diffused pattern. This image relates to an article that appeared in the July 16, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Takefumi Kondo of the National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Okazaki, Japan, and colleagues is titled, "Small Peptides Switch the Transcriptional Activity of Shavenbaby During Drosophila Embryogenesis." view more
Credit: Image © <i>Science</i>/AAAS