scholarly journals Cis-regulatory evolution integrated the Bric-à-brac transcription factors into a novel fruit fly gene regulatory network

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell J Roeske ◽  
Eric M Camino ◽  
Sumant Grover ◽  
Mark Rebeiz ◽  
Thomas Michael Williams

Gene expression evolution through gene regulatory network (GRN) changes has gained appreciation as a driver of morphological evolution. However, understanding how GRNs evolve is hampered by finding relevant cis-regulatory element (CRE) mutations, and interpreting the protein-DNA interactions they alter. We investigated evolutionary changes in the duplicated Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors and a key Bab target gene in a GRN underlying the novel dimorphic pigmentation of D. melanogaster and its relatives. It has remained uncertain how Bab was integrated within the pigmentation GRN. Here, we show that the ancestral transcription factor activity of Bab gained a role in sculpting sex-specific pigmentation through the evolution of binding sites in a CRE of the pigment-promoting yellow gene. This work demonstrates how a new trait can evolve by incorporating existing transcription factors into a GRN through CRE evolution, an evolutionary path likely to predominate newly evolved functions of transcription factors.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell J. Roeske ◽  
Eric M. Camino ◽  
Sumant Grover ◽  
Mark Rebeiz ◽  
Thomas M. Williams

AbstractGene expression evolution through gene regulatory network (GRN) changes has gained appreciation as a driver of morphological evolution. However, understanding how GRNs evolve is hampered by finding relevant cis-regulatory element (CRE) mutations, and interpreting the protein-DNA interactions they alter. We investigated evolutionary changes in the duplicated Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors and a key Bab target gene in a GRN underlying the novel dimorphic pigmentation of D. melanogaster and its relatives. It has remained uncertain how Bab was integrated within the pigmentation GRN. Here we show that Bab gained a role in sculpting sex-specific pigmentation through the evolution of binding sites in a CRE of the pigment-promoting yellow gene and without any noteworthy changes to Bab protein coding sequences. This work demonstrates how a new trait can evolve by incorporating existing transcription factors into a GRN through CRE evolution, an evolutionary path likely to predominate newly evolved functions of transcription factors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 180 (3) ◽  
pp. 1740-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Borrill ◽  
Sophie A. Harrington ◽  
James Simmonds ◽  
Cristobal Uauy

2011 ◽  
Vol 240 (9) ◽  
pp. spcone-spcone
Author(s):  
Diana S. José-Edwards ◽  
Pierre Kerner ◽  
Jamie E. Kugler ◽  
Wei Deng ◽  
Di Jiang ◽  
...  

PLoS Genetics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. e1007375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Kittelmann ◽  
Alexandra D. Buffry ◽  
Franziska A. Franke ◽  
Isabel Almudi ◽  
Marianne Yoth ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Borrill ◽  
Sophie A. Harrington ◽  
James Simmonds ◽  
Cristobal Uauy

AbstractSenescence is a tightly regulated developmental programme which is coordinated by transcription factors. Identifying these transcription factors in crops will provide opportunities to tailor the senescence process to different environmental conditions and regulate the balance between yield and grain nutrient content. Here we use ten time points of gene expression data alongside gene network modelling to identify transcription factors regulating senescence in polyploid wheat. We observe two main phases of transcription changes during senescence: early downregulation of housekeeping and metabolic processes followed by upregulation of transport and hormone related genes. We have identified transcription factor families associated with these early and later waves of differential expression. Using gene regulatory network modelling alongside complementary publicly available datasets we identified candidate transcription factors for controlling senescence. We validated the function of one of these candidate transcription factors in senescence using wheat chemically-induced mutants. This study lays the ground work to understand the transcription factors which regulate senescence in polyploid wheat and exemplifies the integration of time-series data with publicly available expression atlases and networks to identify candidate regulatory genes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Pirayre ◽  
Laurent Duval ◽  
Corinne Blugeon ◽  
Cyril Firmo ◽  
Sandrine Perrin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose molecules into simpler sugars such as glucose is part of the second generation biofuel production process. Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates is usually performed by enzymes produced and secreted by the fungus Trichoderma reesei . Studies identifying transcription factors involved in the regulation of cellulase production have been conducted but no overview of the whole regulation network is available. A transcriptomic approach with mixtures of glucose and lactose, used as a substrate for cellulase induction, was used to help us decipher missing parts in the network.Results: Experimental results confirmed the impact of sugar mixture on the enzymatic cocktail composition. The transcriptomic study shows a temporal regulation of the main transcription factors and a lactose concentration impact on the transcriptional profile. A gene regulatory network built using the BRANE Cut software reveals three sub-networks related to i) a positive correlation between lactose concentration and cellulase production, ii) a particular dependence of the lactose onto the β-glucosidase regulation and iii) a negative regulation of the development process and growth.Conclusions: This work is the first investigating a transcriptomic study regarding the effects of pure and mixed carbon sources in a fed-batch mode. Our study expose a co-orchestration of xyr1 , clr2 and ace3 for cellulase and hemicellulase induction and production, a fine regulation of the β-glucosidase and a decrease of growth in favor of cellulase production. These conclusions provide us with potential targets for further genetic engineering leading to better cellulase-producing strains.


Development ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronique Duboc ◽  
Fatima Sulaiman ◽  
Eleanor Feneck ◽  
Anna Kucharska ◽  
Donald Bell ◽  
...  

We dissect genetically a gene regulatory network, including the transcription factors Tbx4, Pitx1 and Isl1 that act cooperatively to establish the hindlimb bud and identify key differences in the pathways that initiate formation of the hindlimb and forelimb. Using live image analysis of limb mesenchyme cells undergoing chondrogenesis in micromass culture, we distinguish a series of changes in cellular behaviours and cohesiveness that are required for chondrogenic precursors to undergo differentiation. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the proximal hindlimb defects in the Tbx4 mutant result from a failure in the early differentiation step of chondroprogenitors into chondrocytes, providing a novel explanation for the origins of proximally-biased limb defects.


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