Divergent expression of paralogous genes by modification of shared enhancer activity through a promoter-proximal silencer.

ABSTRACT: The duplication of genes and their associated cis-regulatory elements, or enhancers, is a key contributor to genome evolution and biological complexity. Moreover, many paralogs, particularly tandem duplicates, are fixed for long periods of time under the control of shared enhancers. However, in most cases, the mechanism by which gene expression and function diverge following duplication is not known. Here, we dissect the regulation and function of the paralogous nubbin/pdm2 genes during wing development in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that these paralogs play a redundant role in the wing and that their expression relies on a single shared wing enhancer. However, the two genes differ in their ability to respond to this enhancer, with nub responding in all wing progenitor cells and pdm2

SUBMITTER: Loker R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9398998 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature