Transcription factor binding to Caenorhabditis elegans first introns reveals lack of redundancy with gene promoters.

ABSTRACT: Gene expression is controlled through the binding of transcription factors (TFs) to regulatory genomic regions. First introns are longer than other introns in multiple eukaryotic species and are under selective constraint. Here we explore the importance of first introns in TF binding in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by combining computational predictions and experimentally derived TF-DNA interaction data. We found that first introns of C. elegans genes, particularly those for families enriched in long first introns, are more conserved in length, have more conserved predicted TF interactions and are bound by more TFs than other introns. We detected a significant positive correlation between first intron size and the number of TF interactions obtained from chromatin immunoprecipitation

SUBMITTER: Fuxman Bass JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3874175 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature