A novel role for trithorax in the gene regulatory network for a rapidly evolving fruit fly pigmentation trait.

ABSTRACT: Animal traits develop through the expression and action of numerous regulatory and realizator genes that comprise a gene regulatory network (GRN). For each GRN, its underlying patterns of gene expression are controlled by cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that bind activating and repressing transcription factors. These interactions drive cell-type and developmental stage-specific transcriptional activation or repression. Most GRNs remain incompletely mapped, and a major barrier to this daunting task is CRE identification. Here, we used an in silico method to identify predicted CREs (pCREs) that comprise the GRN which governs sex-specific pigmentation of Drosophila melanogaster. Through in vivo assays, we demonstrate that many pCREs activate expression in the correct cell-type and developmenta

SUBMITTER: Weinstein ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9977049 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature