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First published online 5 November 2008
doi: 10.1242/dev.025700

Development 135, 3983-3987 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
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Research Report

Boundary swapping in the Drosophila Bithorax complex

Carole Iampietro1,2, Fabienne Cléard1,2, Henrik Gyurkovics3, Robert K. Maeda1,2 and François Karch1,2,*

1 NCCR, Frontiers in Genetics, University of Geneva, Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, 30 Quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211 Geneva 11, Switzerland.
2 University of Geneva, Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, 30 Quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211 Geneva 11, Switzerland.
3 Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre, PO Box 521, H-6701 Szeged, Hungary.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: francois.karch{at}unige.ch)

Accepted 9 October 2008

SUMMARY

Although the boundary elements of the Drosophila Bithorax complex (BX-C) have properties similar to chromatin insulators, genetic substitution experiments have demonstrated that these elements do more than simply insulate adjacent cis-regulatory domains. Many BX-C boundaries lie between enhancers and their target promoter, and must modulate their activity to allow distal enhancers to communicate with their target promoter. Given this complex function, it is surprising that the numerous BX-C boundaries share little sequence identity. To determine the extent of the similarity between these elements, we tested whether different BX-C boundary elements can functionally substitute for one another. Using gene conversion, we exchanged the Fab-7 and Fab-8 boundaries within the BX-C. Although the Fab-8 boundary can only partially substitute for the Fab-7 boundary, we find that the Fab-7 boundary can almost completely replace the Fab-8 boundary. Our results suggest that although boundary elements are not completely interchangeable, there is a commonality to the mechanism by which boundaries function. This commonality allows different DNA-binding proteins to create functional boundaries.

Key words: Bithorax, Chromatin, Boundaries, Insulator


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008