Flash forward genetics: new twists in transcription across evolutionary boundaries
- 8 February 2021
- journal article
- editorial
- Published by EMBO in EMBO Reports
- Vol. 22 (3), e52152
- https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202052152
Abstract
“Flash forward genetics” refers to a genetic approach based on the functional interaction of a given factor with unknown partner(s) converging on shared targets across evolutionary boundaries. A study by Li et al (2021), published in this issue of EMBO Reports, illustrates the innovative potential of the approach. The authors applied it to identify interacting factors for FOXN1, a mammalian transcription factor with a highly specialized function in hair follicle morphogenesis and thymus. The authors express FOXN1 in the Drosophila eye to perform an unbiased genetic screen in a totally heterologous system. In a remarkable tour de force, the authors identify and characterize a factor so far known for its ubiquitous function in transcription elongation, AFF4. Li et al show that AFF4 plays also a specific role in hair follicle and thymus development in the mouse overlapping with that of FOXN1.Keywords
Funding Information
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (310030B_176404)
- National Institutes of Health (R01AR039190)
- Fondazione Telethon (GGP16235)
- Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (25116)
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