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Annotation of Genes on Contig 31 of the Drosophila eugracilis Chromosome 4
Author(s) -
Hobson Joanna,
Van Stry Melanie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.532.13
Subject(s) - drosophila melanogaster , biology , genetics , gene , heterochromatin , polytene chromosome , melanogaster , gene isoform , genome , contig , comparative genomics , homology (biology) , genomics , chromosome
Drosophila melanogaster has a small fourth chromosome, the Muller F element (3.5% of the genome), that has very large heterochromatin domains which are rich in HP1. Our goal for this project is to understand the mechanisms of gene expression in this heterochromatic environment. In the Genomics Education Partnership Project, we are using comparative genomics to identify conserved DNA regulatory sequences, by comparing the D. melanogaster Muller F element to those of other fly species that diverged from D. melanogaster ~10 million years ago, aiming to find regions of homology surrounding the transcription start sites. I have annotated the genes on a 40,000 base‐pair piece from the Drosophila eugracilis chromosome four. Sequence comparisons using BLASTX, gene predictors like Gene Scans, and RNA sequence data were used to annotate coding genes in this region. I identified two genes: myo (3 isoforms) and ey (4 isoforms) and annotated protein coding exons and splice sites for each isoform. The myo amino acid sequence is identical for each isoform in D. eugracilis, with 70.3% amino acid identity compared to the D. melanogaster myo protein. The D. eugracilis ey isoforms are also similar to the D. melanogaster ey protein sequences, with a range from 73% to 78% identity to their corresponding D. melanogaster isoform. Putative Transcription Start Sites for each gene were investigated, including a search for known transcription factor binding sites. By pooling results, GEP students are annotating several megabases of DNA, and contributing to an understanding of heterochromatic genes. Support or Funding Information Supported by NSF IUSE #1431407 and NIH R25GM119157 to Sarah C.R. Elgin (GEP) and NSF HRD#1623340 to MVS This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .