Sepsid even-skipped enhancers are functionally conserved in Drosophila despite lack of sequence conservation.

ABSTRACT: The gene expression pattern specified by an animal regulatory sequence is generally viewed as arising from the particular arrangement of transcription factor binding sites it contains. However, we demonstrate here that regulatory sequences whose binding sites have been almost completely rearranged can still produce identical outputs. We sequenced the even-skipped locus from six species of scavenger flies (Sepsidae) that are highly diverged from the model species Drosophila melanogaster, but share its basic patterns of developmental gene expression. Although there is little sequence similarity between the sepsid eve enhancers and their well-characterized D. melanogaster counterparts, the sepsid and Drosophila enhancers drive nearly identical expression patterns in transgenic D. melanogaster

SUBMITTER: Hare EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2430619 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature