Presenter(s)

Owen Focht, Brooke Nichols

Comments

10:45-12:00, Kennedy Union Ballroom

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Description

Enhancers are a type of cis-regulatory element that activate gene transcription in spatial and temporal restricted patterns through their interactions with gene-proximal promoter sequences. Enhancers often reside at a distance (distal) to the gene promoter their activity is imparted on. Additional DNA elements may contribute to the selectivity of enhancer-promoter interactions, notably those referred to as remote control elements that can be encoded within enhancers, and tethering elements that can be in or near promoters. However, few of these elements have been found and characterized. Hence, the molecular mechanisms by which these differing elements interact remain poorly understood. The Williams lab previously (Camino et al. 2020) published on a dual reporter transgene system in Drosophila (D.) melanogaster that allows the simultaneous comparison of an enhancer's ability to activate proximal and distal fluorescent reporter genes. Of the enhancers tested in that study, none were found to activate the distal reporter gene. We are testing four enhancers from the Hr4 gene locus of D. melanogaster in this red light/green light dual reporter transgenic system. This includes enhancers that are positioned between 5 and 50 kilobase pairs from the Hr4 gene’s endogenous promoter. The results will inform on whether these distal enhancers can interact with the simple minimal promoter for the reporter gene, or whether a tethering element is additionally needed from the endogenous gene locus.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Course Project - BIO 421 02

Primary Advisor

Tom M. Williams

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship; Practical Wisdom; Vocation

Using the Red Light/Green Light dual fluorescent protein reporter system to study enhancer-promoter interactions for the Drosophila Hr4 gene

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