Ultraconservation Identifies a Small Subset of Extremely Constrained Developmental Enhancers

Overview

Journal Nat Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2008 Jan 8

PMID 18176564

Citations 187

Authors

Axel Visel

Shyam Prabhakar

Jennifer A Akiyama

Malak Shoukry

Keith D Lewis

Amy Holt

Ingrid Plajzer-Frick

Veena Afzal

Edward M Rubin

Len A Pennacchio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Extended perfect human-rodent sequence identity of at least 200 base pairs (ultraconservation) is potentially indicative of evolutionary or functional uniqueness. We used a transgenic mouse assay to compare the embryonic enhancer activity of 231 noncoding ultraconserved human genome regions with that of 206 extremely conserved regions lacking ultraconservation. Developmental enhancers were equally prevalent in both populations, suggesting instead that ultraconservation identifies a small, functionally indistinct subset of similarly constrained cis-regulatory elements.

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