Dhadi Surendar Reddy, Krom Nicholas, Ramakrishna Wusirika
Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA.
Gene. 2009 Jan 15;429(1-2):65-73. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2008.09.034. Epub 2008 Oct 11.
A bidirectional promoter can regulate the expression of two flanking genes arranged in a divergent manner. Although reports pertaining to bidirectional promoters on a genomic scale exist in mammals, little progress has been made in plants. In the present study, we performed a computational analysis of this unique class of promoters to identify overrepresented cis-regulatory motifs from three sequenced plant genomes: rice (Oryza sativa), Arabidopsis thaliana, and Populus trichocarpa using the Plant Cis-acting Regulatory DNA Elements (PLACE) and PLANT CARE databases. We describe these overrepresented elements and their possible regulatory mechanisms. We also discuss similarities and differences with human bidirectional promoters. Furthermore, we describe in detail a few coexpressed and evolutionarily conserved divergent gene pairs and their bidirectional promoters. This study provides insights into bidirectional promoters in three plant species, thereby laying a foundation for their experimental analysis.
双向启动子可以调控以相反方向排列的两个侧翼基因的表达。尽管在哺乳动物中存在关于基因组规模双向启动子的报道，但在植物中进展甚微。在本研究中，我们对这类独特的启动子进行了计算分析，以利用植物顺式作用调控DNA元件（PLACE）和植物调控元件数据库，从三个已测序的植物基因组：水稻（Oryza sativa）、拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）和毛果杨（Populus trichocarpa）中鉴定出过度富集的顺式调控基序。我们描述了这些过度富集的元件及其可能的调控机制。我们还讨论了与人类双向启动子的异同。此外，我们详细描述了一些共表达且进化上保守的反向基因对及其双向启动子。本研究为三种植物中的双向启动子提供了见解，从而为其实验分析奠定了基础。
