Structural Relationships between Highly Conserved Elements and Genes in Vertebrate Genomes
Author Information
Author(s): Sun Hong, Skogerbø Geir, Wang Zhen, Liu Wei, Li Yixue
Primary Institution: Key Laboratory of Systems Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Hypothesis
Are highly conserved elements (HCEs) associated with specific genes across vertebrate genomes?
Conclusion
The study found complex relationships between highly conserved elements and their associated genes, indicating that these associations are not limited by proximity on the genome.
Supporting Evidence
- More than 95 percent of human HCEs could be anchored to rodent genomes.
- 629 HCEs were associated with 331 different genes, resulting in 2,957 HCE-gene pairs common to all six genomes.
- 22 HGLBs contain only a single gene, associated with 107 HCEs.
Takeaway
Scientists looked at important DNA pieces that are the same in many animals and found that they are connected to genes in complicated ways, not just nearby ones.
Methodology
The study used comparative genomics to analyze the relationships between highly conserved elements and genes across six vertebrate genomes.
Limitations
The study could not identify common target genes for a significant number of HCEs, suggesting that not all HCEs have cis-regulatory functions.
Statistical Information
P-Value
1.68e-08
Statistical Significance
p=1.68e-08
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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