Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1994 Jun 1;13(11):2553-64.
doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06545.x.

A Polycomb response element in the Ubx gene that determines an epigenetically inherited state of repression

C S Chan  1 , L Rastelli, V Pirrotta
Affiliations

A Polycomb response element in the Ubx gene that determines an epigenetically inherited state of repression

C S Chan et al. EMBO J. .

Abstract

Segmentation genes provide the signals for the activation and regulation of homeotic genes in Drosophila but cannot maintain the resulting pattern of expression because their activity ceases halfway through embryogenesis. Maintenance of the pattern is due to the Polycomb group of genes (Pc-G) and the trithorax group of genes (trx-G), responsible for the persistence of the active or repressed state of homeotic genes. We have identified a regulatory element in the Ubx gene that responds to Pc-G and trx-G genes. Transposons carrying this element create new binding sites for Pc-G products in the polytene chromosomes. This Pc-G maintenance element (PRE), establishes a repressive complex that keeps enhancers repressed in cells in which they were originally repressed and maintains this state through many cell divisions. The trx-G products stimulate the expression of enhancers in cells in which they were originally active. This mechanism is responsible for the correct regulation of imaginal disc enhancers, which lack themselves antero-posterior positional information. The PRE also causes severe variegation of the mini-white gene present in the transposon, a phenomenon very similar to heterochromatic position-effect variegation. The significance of this mechanism for homeotic gene regulation is discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Trends Genet. 1990 Dec;6(12):416-21 - PubMed
    1. Dev Biol. 1993 Jul;158(1):131-44 - PubMed
    1. EMBO J. 1993 Oct;12(10):3865-77 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1993 Dec 17;75(6):1187-98 - PubMed
    1. Genetics. 1991 Aug;128(4):751-61 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources