Ndt80 is a transcription factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that activates a set of genes needed for progression through meiosis and gametogenesis. It is encoded by the NDT80 gene. Its role links a developmental transition to coordinated gene expression, rather than to completion of a single structural event.
The initial 1995 study found that NDT80 gene mutants arrested at pachytene, a stage of meiotic prophase. Their homologous chromosomes remained joined by full-length synaptonemal complexes. Much of meiotic recombination still occurred, showing that chromosome exchange and progression out of this stage could be experimentally separated.[ref]
NDT80, a meiosis-specific gene required for exit from pachytene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by L. Xu and others. Molecular and Cellular Biology 15, pp. 6572–6581; mutant phenotype and recombination analysis
A 1998 study then connected the phenotype to transcriptional control. Producing Ndt80 outside its normal developmental setting induced target genes, while the isolated protein bound a conserved upstream DNA sequence. The combination of altered gene expression and sequence binding supported a direct regulatory role.[ref]
Gametogenesis in yeast is regulated by a transcriptional cascade dependent on Ndt80 by S. Chu and others. Molecular Cell 1, pp. 685–696; ectopic expression and binding by recombinant Ndt80
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