Lecci, M.S., Malta, T.M., Flausino, V.T., Gitaí, D.L.G., Ruiz, J.C., Monesi, N. (2008). Functional and bioinformatics analyses reveal conservation of Cis-regulatory elements between Sciaridae and Drosophilidae.  genesis 46(1): 43--51.

FBrf0202733

Research paper

The sciarid DNA puff C4 BhC4-1 gene is amplified and transcribed in salivary glands at the end of the larval stage. In transgenic Drosophila, the BhC4-1 promoter drives transcription in prepupal salivary glands and in the ring gland of late embryos. A bioinformatics analysis has identified 162 sequences similar to distinct regions of the BhC4-1 proximal promoter, which are predominantly located either in 5' or 3' regions or introns in the Drosophila melanogaster genome. A significant number of the identified sequences are found in the regulatory regions of Drosophila genes that are expressed in the salivary gland. Functional assays in Drosophila reveal that the BhC4-1 proximal promoter contains both a 129 bp (-186/-58) salivary gland enhancer and a 67 bp (-253/-187) ring gland enhancer that drive tissue specific patterns of developmentally regulated gene expression, irrespective of their orientation.