Eukaryotic operon-like transcription of functionally related genes in Drosophila

Yehuda Ben-Shahar; Kishore Nannapaneni; Thomas L Casavant; Todd E Scheetz; Michael J Welsh

doi:10.1073/pnas.0609683104

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Eukaryotic operon-like transcription of functionally related genes in Drosophila

Journal article

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Peer reviewed

Eukaryotic operon-like transcription of functionally related genes in Drosophila

Yehuda Ben-Shahar, Kishore Nannapaneni, Thomas L Casavant, Todd E Scheetz and Michael J Welsh

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.104(1), pp.222-227

01/02/2007

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0609683104

PMCID: PMC1749324

PMID: 17190802

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Abstract

Complex biological processes require coordinated function of many genes. One evolutionary solution to the problem of coordinately expressing functionally related genes in bacteria and nematodes is organization of genes in operons. Surprisingly, eukaryotic operons are considered rare outside the nematode lineage. In Drosophila melanogaster, we found lounge lizard (llz), which encodes a degenerin/ENaC cation channel, cotranscribed with CheB42a, a nonhomologous gene of unknown function residing <100 bp upstream. These two genes were transcribed from a single promoter as one primary transcript and were processed posttranscriptionally to generate individual mRNAs. The mechanism did not involve alternative splicing, and it differed from the trans splicing used in nematode operons. Both genes were expressed in the same tissues, and previous work suggested that both may be involved in courtship behavior. A bioinformatic approach identified numerous additional loci as potential Drosophila operons. These data reveal eukaryotic operon-like transcription of functionally related genes in Drosophila. The results also suggest that operon-based transcription may be more common in eukaryotes than previously appreciated.

Promoter Regions, Genetic

RNA-Binding Proteins - genetics

Animals

Operon

Base Sequence

Molecular Sequence Data

RNA, Messenger - analysis

Ribonucleoprotein, U1 Small Nuclear - genetics

Transcription, Genetic

Chromosome Mapping

Drosophila Proteins - genetics

Drosophila - genetics

Details

Title: Subtitle: Eukaryotic operon-like transcription of functionally related genes in Drosophila
Creators: Yehuda Ben-Shahar - Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Department of Internal Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Kishore Nannapaneni
Thomas L Casavant
Todd E Scheetz
Michael J Welsh
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.104(1), pp.222-227
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0609683104
PMID: 17190802
PMCID: PMC1749324
NLM abbreviation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN: 0027-8424
eISSN: 1091-6490
Publisher: United States
Grant note: P30 DK054759 / NIDDK NIH HHS DK54759 / NIDDK NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 01/02/2007
Academic Unit: Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Neurology; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Neurosurgery; Internal Medicine; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Record Identifier: 9983980065302771

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