| Presentation Detail
EvoDevo Gordon, Kacy Lynn [1], Ruvinsky, Ilya [2]. Phylum-level conservation of the regulatory vocabulary that controls expression in different nematode cell types. Even though gene regulatory divergence is thought to play a crucial role in evolution, we do not have a clear picture of how the DNA that regulates gene expression evolves. Using regulatory DNA from one species to drive gene expression in another species reveals functional divergence or conservation of the cis-regulatory element. By performing these experiments with a phylogenetic approach that samples across Nematoda and a developmental approach that samples cell types and developmental stages, we are discovering patterns of Âcis-regulatory divergence throughout the evolutionary history of nematodes. Despite apparently complete divergence at the sequence level, many cis-regulatory elements from distant nematode relatives retain recognizably similar functions to their C. elegans orthologs in transgenic C. elegans. In most cases, the fidelity of gene expression compared to the C. elegans promoter scales with the phylogenetic distance between the species, with promoters fromthe most closely related Meloidogyne hapla driving more complete and consistent expression patterns than promoters from Brugia malayi, which drive more consistent expression than the promoters of the most distantly related Trichinella spiralis. However, when a T. spiralis promoter contains short motifs that match known regulatory motifs in the C.elegans ortholog, it can drive expression in a pattern that corresponds tot he function of the C. elegans motifs. We hypothesize that functionality derives from a âregulatory vocabularyâ composed of these short motifs that is largely conserved within the nematode phylum. The motifs themselves may turn over many times as lineages diverge, as evidenced by their presence on opposite DNA strands. On the other hand, overall robustness of expression does not map directly to these motifs, and probably derives from higher order sequence characteristics. We test these hypotheses through mutational analysis and functional characterization of the promoters from the distant nematode relatives in the C. elegans trans environment.
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1 - The University of Chicago, Organismal Biology and Anatomy, 1027 E. 57th St. , Chicago, IL
2 - The University of Chicago, Ecology and Evolution, 1101 E. 57th St., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
Keywords:
gene expression
C. elegans.
Presentation Type: Regular Oral Presentation
Session: 31
Location: Rendezvous A/Snowbird Center
Date: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
Time: 2:15 PM
Number: 31004
Abstract ID:411
Candidate for Awards:W.D. Hamilton Award for Outstanding Student Presentation |
