Promoter competition as a mechanism of transcriptional interference mediated by retrotransposons
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Chantal Vaury; Caroline Conte; Bernard Dastugue
- Source
- EMBO Journal
EMBO Journal, 2002, 21 (14), pp.3908-16. ⟨10.1093/emboj/cdf367⟩
ResearcherID
- Subject
- Male
Retroelements
Transcription, Genetic
Retrotransposon
[SDV.GEN] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics
Biology
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Article
Testis
Transcriptional regulation
Animals
Enhancer
Promoter Regions, Genetic
Molecular Biology
Gene
DNA Primers
Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Genetics
Regulation of gene expression
[SDV.GEN]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics
General Immunology and Microbiology
Base Sequence
General Neuroscience
Promoter
biology.organism_classification
White (mutation)
Drosophila melanogaster
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
Gene Expression Regulation
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0261-4189
1460-2075
International audience; Enhancers can function over great distances and interact with almost any kind of promoter, but insulators or promoter competition generally limit their effect to a single gene. We provide in vivo evidence that retroelements may establish promoter competition with their neighboring genes and restrict the range of action of an enhancer. We report that the retroelement Idefix from Drosophila melanogaster inhibits white gene expression in testes by a promoter competition mechanism that does not occur in the eyes. The sequence specificity of the two TATA-less promoters of white and Idefix is a prime determinant in the competition that takes place in tissues where both are transcriptionally active. This study brings to light a novel mechanism whereby transcriptional interference by an active retrotransposon may perturb expression of neighboring genes. This capacity to interfere with the transcriptional regulation of their host, together with the facts that retroelements preferentially move within the germline and do not excise to replicate, suggest that these elements are cis-regulatory sequences able to imprint specific and heritable controls essential for eukaryotic gene regulation.