CRISPR/Cas9 and FLP-FRT mediated regulatory dissection of the BX-C of Drosophila melanogaster [Transgenic Fly Facility]

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TitleCRISPR/Cas9 and FLP-FRT mediated regulatory dissection of the BX-C of Drosophila melanogaster [Transgenic Fly Facility]
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2023
AuthorsHajirnis N, Pandey S, Mishra RK
JournalChromosome Res
Volume31
Issue1
Pagination7
Date Published2023 Jan 31
ISSN1573-6849
KeywordsAnimals, CRISPR-Cas Systems, Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Homeodomain Proteins, Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Abstract

The homeotic genes or Hox define the anterior-posterior (AP) body axis formation in bilaterians and are often present on the chromosome in an order collinear to their function across the AP axis. However, there are many cases wherein the Hox are not collinear, but their expression pattern is conserved across the AP axis. The expression pattern of Hox is attributed to the cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) consisting of enhancers, initiators, or repressor elements that regulate the genes in a segment-specific manner. In the Drosophila melanogaster Hox complex, the bithorax complex (BX-C) and even the CRMs are organized in an order that is collinear to their function in the thoracic and abdominal segments. In the present study, the regulatorily inert regions were targeted using CRISPR/Cas9 to generate a series of transgenic lines with the insertion of FRT sequences. These FRT lines are repurposed to shuffle the CRMs associated with Abd-B to generate modular deletion, duplication, or inversion of multiple CRMs. The rearrangements yielded entirely novel phenotypes in the fly suggesting the requirement of such complex manipulations to address the significance of higher order arrangement of the CRMs. The functional map and the transgenic flies generated in this study are important resources to decipher the collective ability of multiple regulatory elements in the eukaryotic genome to function as complex modules.

DOI10.1007/s10577-023-09716-w
Alternate JournalChromosome Res
PubMed ID36719476