Premium
S tructure and cis ‐regulatory analysis of a Drosophila grainyhead neuroblast enhancer
Author(s) -
Kuzin Alexander,
Smith Svetlana,
Brody Thomas,
Odenwald Ward F.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
genesis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.093
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1526-968X
pISSN - 1526-954X
DOI - 10.1002/dvg.23094
Subject(s) - enhancer , biology , enhancer rnas , neuroblast , gene , transcription factor , conserved sequence , genetics , locus (genetics) , enhancer trap , regulatory sequence , microbiology and biotechnology , base sequence , neurogenesis
Summary Evolutionary analysis of cis ‐regulatory DNA reveals that enhancers consist of clusters of conserved sequence blocks (CSBs) that are made up of both unique and repeated sequence elements. This study seeks to address the basis for spatial and temporal regulation of neuroblast enhancer function. A search for temporally restricted CNS NB enhancers identified one within the transcription factor grainyhead ( grh ) gene locus. The intronic enhancer, grh‐15 , contains two separable semi‐autonomous activities, one that drives expression predominantly within the developing brain NBs and another in ventral cord NBs. To gain insight into the function of the CSBs constituting the brain‐specific enhancer, we have systematically deleted each CSB and compared the activity of the altered enhancer to that of the full brain‐specific enhancer. While our results indicate that information regulating enhancer activity is highly redundant, we have found that individual CSBs convey expression in subsets of larval lineages that are generated from either Type I or Type II NBs. These studies also highlight how evolutionary sequence conservation can be used as a guide the functional analysis of cis‐ regulatory DNA.