In silico analysis of the transcriptional regulatory logic of neuronal identity specification throughout the C. elegans nervous system

Bibliographic Details
Title: In silico analysis of the transcriptional regulatory logic of neuronal identity specification throughout the C. elegans nervous system
Authors: Lori Glenwinkel, Seth R Taylor, Kasper Langebeck-Jensen, Laura Pereira, Molly B Reilly, Manasa Basavaraju, Ibnul Rafi, Eviatar Yemini, Roger Pocock, Nenad Sestan, Marc Hammarlund, David M Miller III, Oliver Hobert
Source: eLife, Vol 10 (2021)
Publisher Information: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Science
LCC:Biology (General)
Subject Terms: transcription factor, cis-regulatory analysis, neuronal differentiation, Medicine, Science, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
More Details: The generation of the enormous diversity of neuronal cell types in a differentiating nervous system entails the activation of neuron type-specific gene batteries. To examine the regulatory logic that controls the expression of neuron type-specific gene batteries, we interrogate single cell expression profiles of all 118 neuron classes of the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system for the presence of DNA binding motifs of 136 neuronally expressed C. elegans transcription factors. Using a phylogenetic footprinting pipeline, we identify cis-regulatory motif enrichments among neuron class-specific gene batteries and we identify cognate transcription factors for 117 of the 118 neuron classes. In addition to predicting novel regulators of neuronal identities, our nervous system-wide analysis at single cell resolution supports the hypothesis that many transcription factors directly co-regulate the cohort of effector genes that define a neuron type, thereby corroborating the concept of so-called terminal selectors of neuronal identity. Our analysis provides a blueprint for how individual components of an entire nervous system are genetically specified.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2050-084X
Relation: https://elifesciences.org/articles/64906; https://doaj.org/toc/2050-084X
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.64906
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/af7e725ca0754a56a5647a1273beb41c
Accession Number: edsdoj.f7e725ca0754a56a5647a1273beb41c
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:2050084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.64906
Published in:eLife
Language:English