Functional Evolution of a cis-Regulatory Module
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Lack of knowledge about how regulatory regions evolve in relation to their structure-function may limit the utility of comparative sequence analysis in deciphering cis-regulatory sequences. To address this we applied reverse genetics to carry out a functional genetic complementation analysis of a eukaryotic cis-regulatory module-the even-skipped stripe 2 enhancer-from four Drosophila species. The evolution of this enhancer is non-clock-like, with important functional differences between closely related species and functional convergence between distantly related species. Functional divergence is attributable to differences in activation levels rather than spatiotemporal control of gene expression. Our findings have implications for understanding enhancer structure-function, mechanisms of speciation and computational identification of regulatory modules.
Source: PLoS Biology
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of Cambridge
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,500
OpenAlex ID: W2025665146