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Insight into transcription factor gene duplication from Caenorhabditis elegans Promoterome-driven expression patterns
John S Reece-Hoyes1, Jane Shingles, Denis Dupuy
1Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Clarendon Way, Leeds, LS2 9JT, West Yorkshire, UK. John.Reece-Hoyes@umassmed.edu <John.Reece-Hoyes@umassmed.edu>
BMC Genomics
|January 25, 2007
Summary
Investigating transcription factor gene promoters in Caenorhabditis elegans using reporter genes revealed that these genes are rarely duplicated. This suggests developmental control genes are sensitive to gene dosage changes over evolutionary time.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- The C. elegans Promoterome resource aids in understanding genome-wide transcriptional regulation.
- Transcription factors are crucial for systems biology models of gene control.
- Promoter activity of C. elegans transcription factor genes was investigated in vivo.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the in vivo promoter activity of C. elegans transcription factor genes using a reporter gene approach.
- To assess the frequency of local gene duplication events for transcription factor genes.
Main Methods:
- Generated transgenic C. elegans strains with 366 transcription factor promoter/GFP reporter gene fusions.
- Determined GFP expression patterns, summarizing by developmental stage and cell type.
- Compared C. elegans and C. briggsae transcription factor genes to investigate functional gene duplication.
Main Results:
- GFP distributions were determined for 366 transcription factor promoter fusions.
- Data reliability was confirmed by comparison to known gene product distributions.
- Few instances of functional gene duplication were found between C. elegans and C. briggsae transcription factor genes since species divergence.
Conclusions:
- Reporter expression analysis of numerous promoters enhances data interpretation.
- Transcription factors involved in developmental control are sensitive to gene dosage changes via local gene duplication over evolutionary timescales.
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