Schwartz Yuri B, Cavalli Giacomo
Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Human Genetics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR1142 and University of Montpellier, 34396 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Genetics. 2017 Jan;205(1):5-24. doi: 10.1534/genetics.115.185132.
Understanding how the metazoan genome is used during development and cell differentiation is one of the major challenges in the postgenomic era. Early studies in Drosophila suggested that three-dimensional (3D) chromosome organization plays important regulatory roles in this process and recent technological advances started to reveal connections at the molecular level. Here we will consider general features of the architectural organization of the Drosophila genome, providing historical perspective and insights from recent work. We will compare the linear and spatial segmentation of the fly genome and focus on the two key regulators of genome architecture: insulator components and Polycomb group proteins. With its unique set of genetic tools and a compact, well annotated genome, Drosophila is poised to remain a model system of choice for rapid progress in understanding principles of genome organization and to serve as a proving ground for development of 3D genome-engineering techniques.
理解后生动物基因组在发育和细胞分化过程中是如何被利用的，是后基因组时代的主要挑战之一。早期对果蝇的研究表明，三维（3D）染色体组织在这一过程中发挥着重要的调控作用，而最近的技术进步开始在分子水平上揭示其中的联系。在这里，我们将探讨果蝇基因组结构组织的一般特征，提供历史视角和近期研究的见解。我们将比较果蝇基因组的线性和空间分割，并聚焦于基因组结构的两个关键调节因子：绝缘子成分和多梳蛋白家族。凭借其独特的一套遗传工具以及紧凑且注释完善的基因组，果蝇有望继续成为理解基因组组织原理取得快速进展的首选模型系统，并作为3D基因组工程技术开发的试验场。
