Regulatory regions in natural transposable element insertions drive interindividual differences in response to immune challenges in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Variation in gene expression underlies interindividual variability in relevant traits including immune response. However, the genetic variation responsible for these gene expression changes remains largely unknown. Among the non-coding variants that could be relevant, transposable element insertions are promising candidates as they have been shown to be a rich and diverse source of cis-regulatory elements.

Results

In this work, we use a population genetics approach to identify transposable element insertions likely to increase the tolerance of Drosophila melanogaster to bacterial infection by affecting the expression of immune-related genes. We identify 12 insertions associated with allele-specific expression changes in immune-related genes. We experimentally vali

SUBMITTER: Ullastres A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8439047 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature