Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Organogenesis. 2010 Jan-Mar;6(1):54-8. doi: 10.4161/org.6.1.10696.
Bidirectional transcription is an interesting feature of eukaryotic genomes; yet not all aspects of its mechanism are understood. Silkmoth choriogenesis is a model system for studying transcriptional regulation at the initiation level. As chorion genes comprise a large group of divergently transcribed gene pairs, we are presented with the possibility of investigating the intricacies of bidirectional transcription. Their well characterized 5' regulatory regions and expression profiles lay the foundation for investigating protein:protein and protein:DNA interactions, and RNA polymerase function during oocyte development. In this article we summarize current knowledge on chorion gene regulation and propose an approach to modeling bidirectional transcription using chorion promoters.
双向转录是真核基因组的一个有趣特征;然而,其机制的各个方面尚未被理解。蚕的卵壳发生是研究起始水平转录调控的模型系统。由于卵壳基因包含一大组不同方向转录的基因对,我们有可能研究双向转录的复杂性。它们具有特征性的 5' 调控区和表达谱,为研究卵母细胞发育过程中的蛋白质:蛋白质和蛋白质:DNA 相互作用以及 RNA 聚合酶功能奠定了基础。本文总结了卵壳基因调控的现有知识,并提出了一种使用卵壳启动子建模双向转录的方法。