The BEAF-32 insulator coordinates genome organization and function during the evolution of Drosophila species

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jingping Yang, Emory University; Edward Ramos, Emory University; Victor Corces, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-11
• Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the first six months after the full-issue publication date (see http://genome.cshlp.org/site/misc/terms.xhtml). After six months, it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License)
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://genome.cshlp.org/content/22/11/2199
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Genome Research
• ISSN: 1088-9051
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 2199
• End Page: 2207
• Grant/Funding Information: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01GM035463 to V.G.C. and National Cancer Institute award number K01CA133106 to E.R.
• Research Categories: Biology, General

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between genome organization and expression is central to understanding genome function. Closely apposed genes in a head-to-head orientation share the same upstream region and are likely to be coregulated. Here we identify the Drosophila BEAF-32 insulator as a cis regulatory element separating close head-to-head genes with different transcription regulation modes. We then compare the binding landscapes of the BEAF-32 insulator protein in four different Drosophila genomes and highlight the evolutionarily conserved presence of this protein between close adjacent genes. We find that changes in binding of BEAF-32 to sites in the genome of different Drosophila species correlate with alterations in genome organization caused by DNA rearrangements or genome size expansion. The cross-talk between BEAF-32 genomic distribution and genome organization contributes to new gene-expression profiles, which in turn translate into specific and distinct phenotypes. The results suggest a mechanism for the establishment of differences in transcription patterns during evolution.