ELAV-mediated 3'-end processing of ewg transcripts is evolutionarily conserved despite sequence degeneration of the ELAV-binding site.

ABSTRACT: Regulation of alternative mRNA processing by ELAV (embryonic lethal abnormal visual system)/Hu proteins is mediated by binding to AU-rich elements of low complexity. Since such sequences diverge very rapidly during evolution, it has not been clear if ELAV regulation is maintained over extended phylogenetic distances. The transcription factor Erect wing (Ewg) is a major target of ELAV in Drosophila melanogaster and coordinates metabolic gene expression with regulation of synaptic plasticity. Here, we demonstrate evolutionary conservation of ELAV regulation of ewg despite massive degeneration of its binding site and of associated elements in the regulated intronic 3'-end processing site in distantly related Drosophila virilis. In this species, the RNA-binding part of ELAV protein is identica

SUBMITTER: Haussmann IU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3176107 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature