Functional conservation of Rel binding sites in drosophilid genomes.

ABSTRACT: Evolutionary constraints on gene regulatory elements are poorly understood: Little is known about how the strength of transcription factor binding correlates with DNA sequence conservation, and whether transcription factor binding sites can evolve rapidly while retaining their function. Here we use the model of the NFKB/Rel-dependent gene regulation in divergent Drosophila species to examine the hypothesis that the functional properties of authentic transcription factor binding sites are under stronger evolutionary constraints than the genomic background. Using molecular modeling we compare tertiary structures of the Drosophila Rel family proteins Dorsal, Dif, and Relish and demonstrate that their DNA-binding and protein dimerization domains undergo distinct rates of evolution. The accumul

SUBMITTER: Copley RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1950901 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature