Meta-analysis reveals that genes regulated by the Y chromosome in Drosophila melanogaster are preferentially localized to repressive chromatin.

ABSTRACT: The Drosophila Y chromosome is a degenerated, heterochromatic chromosome with few functional genes. Despite this, natural variation on the Y chromosome in D. melanogaster has substantial trans-acting effects on the regulation of X-linked and autosomal genes. It is not clear, however, whether these genes simply represent a random subset of the genome or whether specific functional properties are associated with susceptibility to regulation by Y-linked variation. Here, we present a meta-analysis of four previously published microarray studies of Y-linked regulatory variation (YRV) in D. melanogaster. We show that YRV genes are far from a random subset of the genome: They are more likely to be in repressive chromatin contexts, be expressed tissue specifically, and vary in expression within an

SUBMITTER: Sackton TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3595022 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature