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Functional genomics

Structure provides clues

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 10, page 284 (2009)Cite this article

Sequence conservation in non-coding regions provides evidence that these regions may be functionally important, but previous sequence-based algorithms have identified few non-coding functional elements. Instead, Parker and colleagues looked at whether conserved structural features of DNA regions could be used to predict functional non-coding elements.

They used a previously developed method, based on the hydroxyl radical cleavage pattern of DNA, to predict the shape of the DNA backbone and of the grooves of DNA at single nucleotide resolution, yielding structural profiles for DNA regions. The authors found that the relationship between DNA structure and the underlying sequence is not always clear cut. Very different nucleotide sequences can have similar local structures; moreover, even the alteration of a single base in an 11-mer sequence can have a significant effect on structure.

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References

ORIGINAL PAPER

  1. Parker S. C. J. et al. Local DNA topography correlates with functional noncoding regions of the human genome. Science 12 Mar 2009 (doi:10.1126/science.1169050)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Margulies, E. H. & Birney, E. Approaches to comparative sequence analysis: towards a functional view of vertebrate genomes. Nature Rev. Genet. 9, 303–313 (2008)

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Authors
  1. Meera Swami
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Swami, M. Structure provides clues. Nat Rev Genet 10, 284 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2576

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2576

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