Transcription of the chicken histone H5 gene is mediated by distinct tissue-specific elements within the promoter and the 3' enhancer.

Molecular genetic analysis of a number of vertebrate erythroid cell-specific genes has identified at least two types of cis-acting regulatory sequences which control the complex developmental pattern of gene expression during erythroid cell maturation. Tissue-specific cellular enhancers have been identified 3' to three erythroid cell-specific genes, and additional regulatory elements have been identified in the promoters of many erythroid genes. We show that the histone H5 enhancer, like the adult beta-globin enhancer, is involved in mediating the developmental induction of histone H5 mRNA as erythroid cells mature. We also describe the preliminary characterization of a tissue-specific regulatory element within the 5' region of the H5 locus and describe investigations of the interaction between this element and the histone H5 enhancer in mediating histone H5 regulation.