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PMID: 22143240 Published · epublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Review

Cis-regulatory elements: molecular mechanisms and evolutionary processes underlying divergence.

Nature reviews. Genetics ·Vol. 13 ·No. 1 ·2011-12-06 ·Pages 59-69

Wittkopp PJ, Kalay G

Abstract

Cis-regulatory sequences, such as enhancers and promoters, control development and physiology by regulating gene expression. Mutations that affect the function of these sequences contribute to phenotypic diversity within and between species. With many case studies implicating divergent cis-regulatory activity in phenotypic evolution, researchers have recently begun to elucidate the genetic and molecular mechanisms that are responsible for cis-regulatory divergence. Approaches include detailed functional analysis of individual cis-regulatory elements and comparing mechanisms of gene regulation among species using the latest genomic tools. Despite the limited number of mechanistic studies published to date, this work shows how cis-regulatory activity can diverge and how studies of cis-regulatory divergence can address long-standing questions about the genetic mechanisms of phenotypic evolution.

MeSH Terms
Animals Base Sequence Computational Biology Conserved Sequence/genetics Enhancer Elements, Genetic/genetics Evolution, Molecular Gene Expression Regulation/genetics Genome Genomics Humans Mice Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid/genetics
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Wittkopp Patricia J
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. [email protected]
Kalay Gizem
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Article Info
Journal
Nature reviews. Genetics
Abbr.
Nat Rev Genet
ISSN
1471-0064
DOI
10.1038/nrg3095
Email
[email protected]
Published
2011-12-06
Epub
2011-00-06
Pages
59-69
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
100962779
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1038/nrg3095 View journal details
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