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Use of a Drosophila genome‐wide conserved sequence database to identify functionally related cis ‐regulatory enhancers
Author(s) -
Brody Thomas,
Yavatkar Amarendra S.,
Kuzin Alexander,
Kundu Mukta,
Tyson Leonard J.,
Ross Jermaine,
Lin TzuYang,
Lee ChiHon,
Awasaki Takeshi,
Lee Tzumin,
Odenwald Ward F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.22728
Subject(s) - enhancer , biology , genome , computational biology , genetics , conserved sequence , regulatory sequence , enhancer rnas , transcription factor , gene , base sequence
Background: Phylogenetic footprinting has revealed that cis ‐regulatory enhancers consist of conserved DNA sequence clusters (CSCs). Currently, there is no systematic approach for enhancer discovery and analysis that takes full‐advantage of the sequence information within enhancer CSCs. Results: We have generated a Drosophila genome‐wide database of conserved DNA consisting of >100,000 CSCs derived from EvoPrints spanning over 90% of the genome. cis ‐Decoder database search and alignment algorithms enable the discovery of functionally related enhancers. The program first identifies conserved repeat elements within an input enhancer and then searches the database for CSCs that score highly against the input CSC. Scoring is based on shared repeats as well as uniquely shared matches, and includes measures of the balance of shared elements, a diagnostic that has proven to be useful in predicting cis ‐regulatory function. To demonstrate the utility of these tools, a temporally‐restricted CNS neuroblast enhancer was used to identify other functionally related enhancers and analyze their structural organization. Conclusions: cis ‐Decoder reveals that co‐regulating enhancers consist of combinations of overlapping shared sequence elements, providing insights into the mode of integration of multiple regulating transcription factors. The database and accompanying algorithms should prove useful in the discovery and analysis of enhancers involved in any developmental process. Developmental Dynamics 241:169–189, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.