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Science 24 July 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5939, pp. 471 - 473
DOI: 10.1126/science.1173976
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Reports

Synchronous and Stochastic Patterns of Gene Activation in the Drosophila Embryo

Alistair N. Boettiger1 and Michael Levine2,*

Drosophila embryogenesis is characterized by rapid transitions in gene activity, whereby crudely distributed gradients of regulatory proteins give way to precise on/off patterns of gene expression. To explore the underlying mechanisms, a partially automated, quantitative in situ hybridization method was used to visualize expression profiles of 14 developmental control genes in hundreds of embryos. These studies revealed two distinct patterns of gene activation: synchronous and stochastic. Synchronous genes display essentially uniform expression of nascent transcripts in all cells of an embryonic tissue, whereas stochastic genes display erratic patterns of de novo activation. RNA polymerase II is "pre-loaded" (stalled) in the promoter regions of synchronous genes, but not stochastic genes. Transcriptional synchrony might ensure the orderly deployment of the complex gene regulatory networks that control embryogenesis.

1 Biophysics Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mlevine{at}berkeley.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evolution of Insect Dorsoventral Patterning Mechanisms.
M.W. Perry, J.D. Cande, A.N. Boettiger, and M. Levine (2009)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)