Evolutionary origin of a novel gene expression pattern through co-option of the latent activities of existing regulatory sequences.

ABSTRACT: Spatiotemporal changes in gene expression underlie many evolutionary novelties in nature. However, the evolutionary origins of novel expression patterns, and the transcriptional control elements ("enhancers") that govern them, remain unclear. Here, we sought to explore the molecular genetic mechanisms by which new enhancers arise. We undertook a survey of closely related Drosophila species to identify recently evolved novel gene expression patterns and traced their evolutionary history. Analyses of gene expression in a variety of developing tissues of the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup revealed high rates of expression pattern divergence, including numerous evolutionary losses, heterochronic shifts, and expansions or contractions of expression domains. However, gains of novel exp

SUBMITTER: Rebeiz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121811 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature