Dataset Information

Dynamic epigenetic control of highly conserved noncoding elements.

ABSTRACT: Many noncoding genomic loci have remained constant over long evolutionary periods, suggesting that they are exposed to strong selective pressures. The molecular functions of these elements have been partially elucidated, but the fundamental reason for their extreme conservation is still unknown.To gain new insights into the extreme selection of highly conserved noncoding elements (HCNEs), we used a systematic analysis of multi-omic data to study the epigenetic regulation of such elements during the development of Drosophila melanogaster. At the sequence level, HCNEs are GC-rich and have a characteristic oligomeric composition. They have higher levels of stable nucleosome occupancy than their flanking regions, and lower levels of mononucleosomes and H3.3, suggesting that these regions reside in compact chromatin. Furthermore, these regions showed remarkable modulations in histone modification and the expression levels of adjacent genes during development. Although HCNEs are primarily initiated late in replication, about 10% were related to early replication origins. Finally, HCNEs showed strong enrichment within lamina-associated domains.HCNEs have distinct and protective sequence properties, undergo dynamic epigenetic regulation, and appear to be associated with the structural components of the chromatin, replication origins, and nuclear matrix. These observations indicate that such elements are likely to have essential cellular functions, and offer insights into their epigenetic properties.

SUBMITTER: Seridi L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4188601 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Dynamic epigenetic control of highly conserved noncoding elements.

Seridi Loqmane L Ryu Taewoo T Ravasi Timothy T

PloS one 20141007 10

<h4>Background</h4>Many noncoding genomic loci have remained constant over long evolutionary periods, suggesting that they are exposed to strong selective pressures. The molecular functions of these elements have been partially elucidated, but the fundamental reason for their extreme conservation is still unknown.<h4>Results</h4>To gain new insights into the extreme selection of highly conserved noncoding elements (HCNEs), we used a systematic analysis of multi-omic data to study the epigenetic ...[more]

PMID: 25289637

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Project description:BackgroundRecent advances in the accumulation of genetic mapping and DNA sequence information from several salmonid species support the long standing view of an autopolyploid origin of these fishes (i.e., 4R). However, the paralogy relationships of the chromosomal segments descendent from earlier polyploidization events (i.e., 2R/3R) largely remain unknown, mainly due to an unbalanced pseudogenization of paralogous genes that were once resident on the ancient duplicated segments. Inter-specific conserved noncoding elements (CNE) might hold the key in identifying these regions, if they are associated with arrays of genes that have been highly conserved in syntenic blocks through evolution. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the chromosomal positions of subset of CNE in the rainbow trout genome using a comparative genomic framework.ResultsThrough a genome wide analysis, we selected 41 pairs of adjacent CNE located on various chromosomes in zebrafish and obtained their intervening, less conserved, sequence information from rainbow trout. We identified 56 distinct fragments corresponding to about 150 Kbp of sequence data that were localized to 67 different chromosomal regions in the rainbow trout genome. The genomic positions of many duplicated CNE provided additional support for some previously suggested homeologies in this species. Additionally, we now propose 40 new potential paralogous affinities by analyzing the variation in the segregation patterns of some multi-copy CNE along with the synteny association comparison using several model vertebrates. Some of these regions appear to carry signatures of the 1R, 2R or 3R duplications. A subset of these CNE markers also demonstrated high utility in identifying homologous chromosomal segments in the genomes of Atlantic salmon and Arctic charr.ConclusionCNE seem to be more efficacious than coding sequences in providing insights into the ancient paralogous affinities within the vertebrate genomes. Such a feature makes these elements extremely attractive for comparative genomics studies, as they can be treated as 'anchor' markers to investigate the association of distally located candidate genes on the homologous genomic segments of closely or distantly related organisms.

Dataset Information

Dynamic epigenetic control of highly conserved noncoding elements.

Publications

Dynamic epigenetic control of highly conserved noncoding elements.

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