The Fab-7 chromatin domain boundary insures functional autonomy of the iab-6 and iab-7 cis-regulatory domains in the bithorax complex (BX-C). We have previously shown that chromatin insulators such asgypsy or scsmin are potent insulators that cannot substitute for Fab-7 function within the BX-C. During the early stages of these swapping experiments, we initially used a fragment of scs that was slightly larger than a minimal scs element (scsmin). We report that this scs fragment, unlike scsmin, interferes in an orientation-dependent manner with the output of a regulatory region covering 80 kb of DNA (from iab-4 to iab-8). At the core of this orientation-dependent phenotype is a promoter located immediately adjacent to the scs insulator. In one orientation, the promoter traps the activity of theiab-3 through iab-5 cis-regulatory domains, diverting them from the abd-A gene. In the opposite orientation, the promoter is transcribing the iab-7 cis-regulatory domain, resulting in ectopic activation of the latter. Our data suggest that transcription through aPolycomb-Response Element (PRE) interferes with the maintenance of aPolycomb repression complex.
Transcription through the iab-7 cis-regulatory domain of the bithorax complex interferes with maintenance of Polycomb-mediated silencing
Ilham Hogga, François Karch; Transcription through the iab-7 cis-regulatory domain of the bithorax complex interferes with maintenance of Polycomb-mediated silencing. Development 1 November 2002; 129 (21): 4915–4922. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.129.21.4915
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