An arthropod cis-regulatory element functioning in sensory organ precursor development dates back to the Cambrian.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An increasing number of publications demonstrate conservation of function of cis-regulatory elements without sequence similarity. In invertebrates such functional conservation has only been shown for closely related species. Here we demonstrate the existence of an ancient arthropod regulatory element that functions during the selection of neural precursors. The activity of genes of the achaete-scute (ac-sc) family endows cells with neural potential. An essential, conserved characteristic of proneural genes is their ability to restrict their own activity to single or a small number of progenitor cells from their initially broad domains of expression. This is achieved through a process called lateral inhibition. A regulatory element, the sensory organ precursor enhancer (S

SUBMITTER: Ayyar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2958161 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature