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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Quantifying the Activity of cis-Regulatory Elements in the Mouse Retina by Explant Electroporation
Published on: June 28, 2011
Evolutionary changes in transcription factor coding sequence quantitatively alter sensory organ development and
Simon Weinberger1,2,3, Matthew P Topping4,5, Jiekun Yan1,2
1VIB Center for the Biology of Disease, VIB, Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
Animals are characterized by a set of highly conserved developmental regulators. Changes in the cis-regulatory elements of these regulators are thought to constitute the major driver of morphological evolution. However, the role of coding sequence evolution remains unresolved. To address this question, we used the Atonal family of proneural transcription factors as a model. Drosophila atonal coding sequence was endogenously replaced with that of atonal homologues (ATHs) at key phylogenetic positions, non-ATH proneural genes, and the closest homologue to ancestral proneural genes. ATHs and the ancestral-like coding sequences rescued sensory organ fate in atonal mutants, in contrast to non-ATHs. Surprisingly, different ATH factors displayed different levels of proneural activity as reflected by the number and functionality of sense organs. This proneural potency gradient correlated directly with ATH protein stability, including in response to Notch signaling, independently of mRNA levels or codon usage. This establishes a distinct and ancient function for ATHs and demonstrates that coding sequence evolution can underlie quantitative variation in sensory development and function.
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Pleiotropy
Transcription
Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds...
Transcription Factors
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Transcription
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds of RNA Molecules
In eukaryotes,...
General Transcription Factors