Homotypic regulatory clusters in Drosophila

Genome Res. 2003 Apr;13(4):579-88. doi: 10.1101/gr.668403.

Abstract

Cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) are transcription regulatory DNA segments (approximately 1 Kb range) that control the expression of developmental genes in higher eukaryotes. We analyzed clustering of known binding motifs for transcription factors (TFs) in over 60 known CRMs from 20 Drosophila developmental genes, and we present evidence that each type of recognition motif forms significant clusters within the regulatory regions regulated by the corresponding TF. We demonstrate how a search with a single binding motif can be applied to explore gene regulatory networks and to discover coregulated genes in the genome. We also discuss the potential of the clustering method in interpreting the differential response of genes to various levels of transcriptional regulators.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Composition / genetics
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Computational Biology / statistics & numerical data
  • Drosophila melanogaster / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / physiology
  • Genes, Homeobox / genetics
  • Genes, Insect / genetics
  • Genes, Regulator / genetics
  • Multigene Family / genetics*
  • Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / physiology

Substances

  • Transcription Factors