PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Francisco J. Novo
TI  - IDENTIFICATION AND EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS OF EIGHT NON-CODING GENOMIC ELEMENTS REGULATING NEURODEVELOPMENTAL GENES
AID  - 10.1101/150482
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 150482
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/15/150482.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/15/150482.full
AB  - Many non-coding regulatory elements conserved in vertebrates regulate the expression of genes involved in development and play an important role in the evolution of morphology through the rewiring of developmental gene networks. Available biological datasets allow the identification of non-coding regulatory elements with high confidence; furthermore, chromatin conformation data can be used to confirm enhancer-promoter interactions in specific tissue types and developmental stages. By integrating several datasets with this type of information, we have devised an analysis pipeline that enabled us to identify eight regulatory elements of three genes with important roles in brain development in vertebrates. We have then performed comparative analyses in order to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the regulatory landscape around these genes, finding a general pattern with a mosaic of ancient regulatory elements conserved in early vertebrates together with younger elements that appear mammal and primate innovations.