Evolution of heterochromatic genes of Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Heterochromatin is generally associated with gene silencing, yet in Drosophila melanogaster, heterochromatin harbors hundreds of functional protein-encoding genes, some of which depend on heterochromatin for expression. Here we document a recent evolutionary transition of a gene cluster from euchromatin to heterochromatin, which occurred <20 million years ago in the drosophilid lineage. This finding reveals evolutionary fluidity between these two genomic compartments and provides a powerful approach to identifying differences between euchromatic and heterochromatic genes. Promoter mapping of orthologous gene pairs led to the discovery of the "slippery promoter," characterized by multiple transcriptional start sites predominantly at adenines, as a common promoter type found in both heteroch

SUBMITTER: Yasuhara JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1176909 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature