Stimulation of sea urchin H2B histone gene transcription by a chromatin-associated protein fraction depends on gene sequences downstream of the transcription start site.

We isolated a chromosomal protein fraction derived from chromatin of sea urchin embryos which specifically stimulated the expression of the histone H2B gene by a factor of 5- to 10-fold when the complete sea urchin histone gene repeat h22 was injected in Xenopus laevis oocyte nuclei. Gene manipulation experiments revealed the existence of two different target sites in the H2B gene which appear to mediate the response to injection of the stimulatory sea urchin chromatin-associated proteins; both are located downstream of the transcription initiation site. The first sequence element which is shown to be implicated is within, or at least includes, the H2B 5' untranslated leader sequence between nucleotides 11 and 76. The second element resides within an H2B DNA segment located near the 3' end of the gene, extending from 90 base pairs upstream of the mRNA 3' terminus to 140 base pairs in the spacer sequences downstream.