Polycomb-dependent regulatory contacts between distant Hox loci in Drosophila

TY - JOUR

T1 - Polycomb-dependent regulatory contacts between distant Hox loci in Drosophila

AU - Bantignies, Frédéric

AU - Roure, Virginie

AU - Comet, Itys

AU - Leblanc, Benjamin

AU - Schuettengruber, Bernd

AU - Bonnet, Jérôme

AU - Tixier, Vanessa

AU - Mas, André

AU - Cavalli, Giacomo

N1 - Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2011/1/21

Y1 - 2011/1/21

N2 - In Drosophila melanogaster, Hox genes are organized in an anterior and a posterior cluster, called Antennapedia complex and bithorax complex, located on the same chromosome arm and separated by 10 Mb of DNA. Both clusters are repressed by Polycomb group (PcG) proteins. Here, we show that genes of the two Hox complexes can interact within nuclear PcG bodies in tissues where they are corepressed. This colocalization increases during development and depends on PcG proteins. Hox gene contacts are conserved in the distantly related Drosophila virilis species and they are part of a large gene interaction network that includes other PcG target genes. Importantly, mutations on one of the loci weaken silencing of genes in the other locus, resulting in the exacerbation of homeotic phenotypes in sensitized genetic backgrounds. Thus, the three-dimensional organization of Polycomb target genes in the cell nucleus stabilizes the maintenance of epigenetic gene silencing.

AB - In Drosophila melanogaster, Hox genes are organized in an anterior and a posterior cluster, called Antennapedia complex and bithorax complex, located on the same chromosome arm and separated by 10 Mb of DNA. Both clusters are repressed by Polycomb group (PcG) proteins. Here, we show that genes of the two Hox complexes can interact within nuclear PcG bodies in tissues where they are corepressed. This colocalization increases during development and depends on PcG proteins. Hox gene contacts are conserved in the distantly related Drosophila virilis species and they are part of a large gene interaction network that includes other PcG target genes. Importantly, mutations on one of the loci weaken silencing of genes in the other locus, resulting in the exacerbation of homeotic phenotypes in sensitized genetic backgrounds. Thus, the three-dimensional organization of Polycomb target genes in the cell nucleus stabilizes the maintenance of epigenetic gene silencing.

KW - Animals

KW - Antennapedia Homeodomain Protein

KW - Cell Nucleus

KW - Drosophila

KW - Drosophila Proteins

KW - Drosophila melanogaster

KW - Gene Silencing

KW - Genes, Homeobox

KW - Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional

KW - Repressor Proteins

U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2010.12.026

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2010.12.026

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21241892

SN - 0092-8674

VL - 144

SP - 214

EP - 226

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 2

ER -