A regulatory code for neurogenic gene expression in the Drosophila embryo

Item Type:	Article
Title:	A regulatory code for neurogenic gene expression in the Drosophila embryo
Creators Name:	Markstein, M. and Zinzen, R.P. and Markstein, P. and Yee, K.P. and Erives, A. and Stathopoulos, A. and Levine, M.
Abstract:	Bioinformatics methods have identified enhancers that mediate restricted expression in the Drosophila embryo. However, only a small fraction of the predicted enhancers actually work when tested in vivo. In the present study, co-regulated neurogenic enhancers that are activated by intermediate levels of the Dorsal regulatory gradient are shown to contain several shared sequence motifs. These motifs permitted the identification of new neurogenic enhancers with high precision: five out of seven predicted enhancers direct restricted expression within ventral regions of the neurogenic ectoderm. Mutations in some of the shared motifs disrupt enhancer function, and evidence is presented that the Twist and Su(H) regulatory proteins are essential for the specification of the ventral neurogenic ectoderm prior to gastrulation. The regulatory model of neurogenic gene expression defined in this study permitted the identification of a neurogenic enhancer in the distant Anopheles genome. We discuss the prospects for deciphering regulatory codes that link primary DNA sequence information with predicted patterns of gene expression.
Keywords:	Drosophila, Anopheles, Cis-Regulation, Enhancers, Neurogenic Ectoderm, Mesectoderm, Twist, Su(H), Dorsal, Animals, Drosophila melanogaster
Source:	Development
ISSN:	0950-1991
Publisher:	Company of Biologists
Volume:	131
Number:	10
Page Range:	2387-2394
Date:	May 2004
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.01124
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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