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1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Dec 24;99(26):16847-52. Epub 2002 Dec 12.
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Characterization of the intergenic RNA profile at abdominal-A and Abdominal-B in the Drosophila bithorax complex.

Bae E, Calhoun VC, Levine M, Lewis EB, Drewell RA.

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics and Development, 401 Barker Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

The correct spatial expression of two Drosophila bithorax complex (BX-C) genes, abdominal-A (abdA) and Abdominal-B (AbdB), is dependent on the 100-kb intergenic infraabdominal (iab) region. The iab region is known to contain a number of different domains (iab2 through iab8) that harbor cis-regulatory elements responsible for directing expression of abdA and AbdB in the second through eighth abdominal segments. Here, we use in situ hybridization to perform high-resolution mapping of the transcriptional activity in the iab control regions. We show that transcription of the control regions themselves is abundant and precedes activation of the abdA and AbdB genes. As with the homeotic genes of the BX-C, the transcription patterns of the RNAs from the iab control regions demonstrate colinearity with the sequence of the iab regions along the chromosome and the domains in the embryo under the control of the specific iab regions. These observations suggest that the intergenic RNAs may play a role in initiating cis regulation at the BX-C early in development.

Publication Types:
PMID: 12481037 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC139232