TY - JOUR
T1 - Elements of the Drosophila bithorax complex that mediate repression by polycomb group products
AU - Simon, Jeffrey
AU - Chiang, Anne
AU - Bender, Welcome
AU - Shimell, Mary Jane
AU - O’connor, Michael
PY - 1993/7
Y1 - 1993/7
N2 - The Polycomb (Pc) group genes encode repressors that restrict expression of homeotic genes to precise domains along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis. We describe germline transformation constructs, containing portions of the bxd, iab-2, or iab-3 regulatory regions of the bithorax complex (BX-C), that are controlled by Pc group products in embryos. There are multiple BX-C elements that mediate Pc group control, which we call Pc group response elements (PREs), and they can work when removed from the normal BX-C context. These constructs are each regulated by the genes Polycomb (Pc), extra sex combs (esc), Enhancer of zeste (E[z]), polyhomeotic (ph), Polycomb-like (Pcl), Sex comb on midleg (Scm), Posterior sex combs (Psc), and Additional sex combs (Asx), consistent with multiple Pc group products acting together. Depending upon context, a PRE from the iab-3 region can restrict expression in different A-P positions. Thus, PREs are not specialized for particular parasegments, suggesting that Pc group products do not directly specify A-P boundaries of homeotic expression. Instead, the results support the idea that Pc group products provide stable memory or imprinting of boundaries which are initially specified by gap and pair-rule regulators.
AB - The Polycomb (Pc) group genes encode repressors that restrict expression of homeotic genes to precise domains along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis. We describe germline transformation constructs, containing portions of the bxd, iab-2, or iab-3 regulatory regions of the bithorax complex (BX-C), that are controlled by Pc group products in embryos. There are multiple BX-C elements that mediate Pc group control, which we call Pc group response elements (PREs), and they can work when removed from the normal BX-C context. These constructs are each regulated by the genes Polycomb (Pc), extra sex combs (esc), Enhancer of zeste (E[z]), polyhomeotic (ph), Polycomb-like (Pcl), Sex comb on midleg (Scm), Posterior sex combs (Psc), and Additional sex combs (Asx), consistent with multiple Pc group products acting together. Depending upon context, a PRE from the iab-3 region can restrict expression in different A-P positions. Thus, PREs are not specialized for particular parasegments, suggesting that Pc group products do not directly specify A-P boundaries of homeotic expression. Instead, the results support the idea that Pc group products provide stable memory or imprinting of boundaries which are initially specified by gap and pair-rule regulators.
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U2 - 10.1006/dbio.1993.1174
DO - 10.1006/dbio.1993.1174
M3 - Article
C2 - 8101171
AN - SCOPUS:0027264608
VL - 158
SP - 131
EP - 144
JO - Developmental Biology
JF - Developmental Biology
SN - 0012-1606
IS - 1
ER -