Transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of the genes controlling cellular respiration or mitochondrial function in thermogenic skunk cabbage

臭鼬白菜（Symplocarpus renifolius）即使在气温低于冰点的情况下，也能将尿道温度保持在20摄氏度左右。在生热孢子中，观察到大量的线粒体，参与细胞呼吸或线粒体功能的基因高度表达。这些结果表明，在臭白菜产热阶段可能存在激活线粒体生物发生的转录调控系统。为了阐明其转录机制，我们研究了几个可能直接或间接参与植物产热作用的基因的5'侧翼区域，这些基因在产热期空间中高度表达。结果，我们确定了在这里检查的基因的所有启动子区域保守的几个共识序列。这些顺式调控元件可能在调节基因的表达中发挥作用，并通过增加线粒体功能导致大量的花产热。

Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus renifolius) can keep the spadix temperature at around 20 degrees Celsius even if the air temperature falls below freezing. In the thermogenic spadix, a large amount of mitochondria was observed and the genes involved in cellular respiration or mitochondrial function were highly expressed. These results suggest that transcriptional regulation systems may exist to activate mitochondrial biogenesis during the thermogenic stage in skunk cabbage. To elucidate the transcriptional mechanisms, we examined 5' flanking regions of several genes which may play a role directly or indirectly in floral thermogenesis and was highly expressed in the thermogenic-stage spadices. As a result, we identified several consensus sequences conserved in all promoter regions in the genes examined here. These cis-regulatory elements may play a role in regulating the expression of the genes, and lead to massive floral thermogenesis through increased mitochondrial function.