Different words, same meaning: understanding the languages of the genome.
There is undeniable value in using sequence comparison to identify putative regulatory sequences. However, a recent report has demonstrated that not all regulatory sequences are evolutionarily conserved. Cis-acting sequences around the RET gene, conserved in mammals but not in fish, are able to reproduce patterns of RET expression in zebrafish embryos. It is as yet unclear whether these sequences are 'below the radar' of current sequence alignment tools or whether their functional homology is not sequence based.
Elgar
Greg
G
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. g.elgar@qmul.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016678:Genome; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D050436:Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D023721:Tetraodontiformes; D015027:Zebrafish
D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret