Research article

Genomic characterization of a repetitive motif strongly associated with developmental genes in Drosophila

Javier Costas^1,2 , Cristina P Vieira¹ , Fernando Casares¹ and Jorge Vieira¹

¹Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre 823, 4150 Porto, Portugal

²Present address: Unidade de Medicina Molecular, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, rúa Choupana s/n, Edf. Consultas, planta -2, E15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

author email corresponding author email

BMC Genomics 2003, 4:52doi:10.1186/1471-2164-4-52

Published:	16 December 2003

Abstract

Background

Non-coding DNA represents a high proportion of all metazoan genomes. Although an undetermined fraction of this DNA may be considered devoid of any function, it also contains important information residing in specific cis-regulatory sequences.

Results

We report a 27 bp motif that is overrepresented within the fly genome. This motif does not show any significant similarity with transposon sequences and is strongly associated with genes involved in development and/or signal transduction. The 27 bp motif is preferentially located within introns, and has a tendency to be present in multiple copies around genes. Furthermore, it is often found embedded in known non-coding regulatory regions. The regulatory network defined by this motif is partially shared in D. pseudoobscura.

Conclusion

We have identified a 27 bp cis-regulatory sequence widely distributed within the Drosophila genome in association with developmental genes. This motif may be very useful towards the annotation of functional regulatory regions within the Drosophila genome and the construction of regulatory networks of Drosophila development.