Compositional genome contexts affect gene expression control in sea urchin embryo.
Gene expression is widely perceived as exclusively controlled by the information contained in cis-regulatory regions. These are built in a modular way, each module being a cluster of binding sites for the transcription factors that control the level, the location and the time at which gene transcription takes place. On the other hand, results from our laboratory have shown that gene expression is affected by the compositional properties (GC levels) of the isochores in which genes are embedded, i.e. the genome context. To clarify how compositional genomic properties affect the way cis-regulatory information is utilized, we have changed the genome context of a GFP-reporter gene containing the complete cis-regulatory region of the gene spdeadringer (spdri), expressed during sea urchin embryogenesis. We have observed that GC levels higher or lower than those found in the natural genome context can alter the reporter expression pattern. We explain this as the result of an interference with the functionality of specific modules in the gene's cis-regulatory region. From these observations we derive the notion that the compositional properties of the genome context can affect cis-regulatory control of gene expression. Therefore although the way a gene works depends on the information contained in its cis-regulatory region, availability of such information depends on the compositional properties of the genomic context.
Mahmud
Abdullah Al
AA
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Villa Comunale, Napoli, Italy.
Amore
Gabriele
G
Bernardi
Giorgio
G
D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D004247:DNA