Evolution of NF-kappa-B Driven Regulatory Code

Transcriptional regulation is a critical contributor to evolutionary change in the genotype-phenotype relationship. One of the most striking examples is the evolution of wing pigmentation patterns in Drosophila, which was found to be linked to the modification of cis-regulatory element driving the expression of the yellow gene. However, despite the availability of whole-genome sequences of related species and the phylogenetic footprints they produce, the evolution of transcriptional regulation is still poorly understood.

The innate immune response is an evolutionary ancient defence mechanism against microbial pathogens which is conserved from Drosophila to mammals. Drosophila counterpart of the mammalian NF-kappaB/Rel family of transcription factors consists of three proteins, Dorsal, DIF and Relish, which are central regulators of innate immune response in larvae and adult flies. We use the model of the NF-kappaB dependent gene regulation in the insect innate immune response to investigate the evolution of cis- and trans- acting elements in diverged Drosophilid genomes.