scholarly journals The Mcp Element From the Drosophila melanogaster Bithorax Complex Mediates Long-Distance Regulatory Interactions

Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 1333-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Muller ◽  
Kirsten Hagstrom ◽  
Henrik Gyurkovics ◽  
Vincenzo Pirrotta ◽  
Paul Schedl
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Polycomb Group ◽  
Small Fragment ◽  
Bithorax Complex ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Response Elements ◽  
Regulatory Interactions ◽  
Homolog Pairing ◽  
Polycomb Response Elements ◽  
Trans Regulation

Abstract In the studies reported here, we have examined the properties of the Mcp element from the Drosophila melanogaster bithorax complex (BX-C). We have found that sequences from the Mcp region of BX-C have properties characteristic of Polycomb response elements (PREs), and that they silence adjacent reporters by a mechanism that requires trans-interactions between two copies of the transgene. However, Mcp trans-regulatory interactions have several novel features. In contrast to classical transvection, homolog pairing does not seem to be required. Thus, trans-regulatory interactions can be observed not only between Mcp transgenes inserted at the same site, but also between Mcp transgenes inserted at distant sites on the same chromosomal arm, or even on different arms. Trans-regulation can even be observed between transgenes inserted on different chromosomes. A small 800-bp Mcp sequence is sufficient to mediate these long-distance trans-regulatory interactions. This small fragment has little silencing activity on its own and must be combined with other Polycomb-Group-responsive elements to function as a “pairing-sensitive” silencer. Finally, this pairing element can also mediate long-distance interactions between enhancers and promoters, activating mini-white expression.

Probing long-distance regulatory interactions in the Drosophila melanogaster bithorax complex using Dam identification

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 931-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Cléard ◽  
Yuri Moshkin ◽  
François Karch ◽  
Robert K Maeda
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Bithorax Complex ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Regulatory Interactions

Polycomb response elements mediate the formation of chromosome higher-order structures in the bithorax complex

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1167-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Lanzuolo ◽  
Virginie Roure ◽  
Job Dekker ◽  
Frédéric Bantignies ◽  
Valerio Orlando
Keyword(s):  
Higher Order ◽  
Bithorax Complex ◽  
Response Elements ◽  
Polycomb Response Elements ◽  
Order Structures

scholarly journals Transcription through Intergenic Chromosomal Memory Elements of the Drosophila Bithorax Complex Correlates with an Epigenetic Switch

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 8026-8034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Rank ◽  
Matthias Prestel ◽  
Renato Paro
Keyword(s):  
Memory Function ◽  
Polycomb Group ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Homeotic Genes ◽  
Bithorax Complex ◽  
Memory Element ◽  
Cellular Memory ◽  
Response Elements ◽  
Group Response ◽  
Differential Expression Pattern

ABSTRACT The proteins of the trithorax and Polycomb groups maintain the differential expression pattern of homeotic genes established by the early embryonic patterning system during development. These proteins generate stable and heritable chromatin structures by acting via particular chromosomal memory elements. We established a transgenic assay system showing that the Polycomb group response elements bxd and Mcp confer epigenetic inheritance throughout development. With previously published data for the Fab7 cellular memory module, we confirmed the cellular memory function of Polycomb group response elements. In Drosophila melanogaster, several of these memory elements are located in the large intergenic regulatory regions of the homeotic bithorax complex. Using a transgene assay, we showed that transcription through a memory element correlated with the relief of silencing imposed by the Polycomb group proteins and established an epigenetically heritable active chromatin mode. A memory element remodeled by the process of transcription was able to maintain active expression of a reporter gene throughout development. Thus, transcription appears to reset and change epigenetic marks at chromosomal memory elements regulated by the Polycomb and trithorax proteins. Interestingly, in the bithorax complex of D. melanogaster, the segment-specific expression of noncoding intergenic transcripts during embryogenesis seems to fulfill this switching role for memory elements regulating the homeotic genes.

scholarly journals H3K27 modifications define segmental regulatory domains in the Drosophila bithorax complex

eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K Bowman ◽  
Aimee M Deaton ◽  
Heber Domingues ◽  
Peggy I Wang ◽  
Ruslan I Sadreyev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Histone H3 ◽  
Polycomb Group ◽  
Homeotic Genes ◽  
Bithorax Complex ◽  
Body Segment ◽  
Regulatory Domains ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Identity Expression

The bithorax complex (BX-C) in Drosophila melanogaster is a cluster of homeotic genes that determine body segment identity. Expression of these genes is governed by cis-regulatory domains, one for each parasegment. Stable repression of these domains depends on Polycomb Group (PcG) functions, which include trimethylation of lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3). To search for parasegment-specific signatures that reflect PcG function, chromatin from single parasegments was isolated and profiled. The H3K27me3 profiles across the BX-C in successive parasegments showed a ‘stairstep’ pattern that revealed sharp boundaries of the BX-C regulatory domains. Acetylated H3K27 was broadly enriched across active domains, in a pattern complementary to H3K27me3. The CCCTC-binding protein (CTCF) bound the borders between H3K27 modification domains; it was retained even in parasegments where adjacent domains lack H3K27me3. These findings provide a molecular definition of the homeotic domains, and implicate precisely positioned H3K27 modifications as a central determinant of segment identity.

scholarly journals DNA sequence models of genome-wide Drosophila melanogaster Polycomb binding sites improve generalization to independent Polycomb Response Elements

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (15) ◽  
pp. 7781-7797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjørn André Bredesen ◽  
Marc Rehmsmeier
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Sequence Motifs ◽  
Chromatin Binding ◽  
Training Set ◽  
Response Elements ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Dna Elements ◽  
Polycomb Response Elements ◽  
Regulatory Dna

Abstract Polycomb Response Elements (PREs) are cis-regulatory DNA elements that maintain gene transcription states through DNA replication and mitosis. PREs have little sequence similarity, but are enriched in a number of sequence motifs. Previous methods for modelling Drosophila melanogaster PRE sequences (PREdictor and EpiPredictor) have used a set of 7 motifs and a training set of 12 PREs and 16-23 non-PREs. Advances in experimental methods for mapping chromatin binding factors and modifications has led to the publication of several genome-wide sets of Polycomb targets. In addition to the seven motifs previously used, PREs are enriched in the GTGT motif, recently associated with the sequence-specific DNA binding protein Combgap. We investigated whether models trained on genome-wide Polycomb sites generalize to independent PREs when trained with control sequences generated by naive PRE models and including the GTGT motif. We also developed a new PRE predictor: SVM-MOCCA. Training PRE predictors with genome-wide experimental data improves generalization to independent data, and SVM-MOCCA predicts the majority of PREs in three independent experimental sets. We present 2908 candidate PREs enriched in sequence and chromatin signatures. 2412 of these are also enriched in H3K4me1, a mark of Trithorax activated chromatin, suggesting that PREs/TREs have a common sequence code.

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