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Cited by 136Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsChromosomal and Genetic VariationsDevelopmental Biology and Gene Regulation

Shadow enhancers: Frequently asked questions about distributed cis‐regulatory information and enhancer redundancy

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Barolo, Scott·2012·BioEssays
DOI 10.1002/bies.201100121PMC PMC3517143
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Abstract

This paper, in the form of a frequently asked questions page (FAQ), addresses outstanding questions about “shadow enhancers”, quasi‐redundant cis‐regulatory elements, and their proposed roles in transcriptional control. Questions include: What exactly are shadow enhancers? How many genes have shadow/redundant/distributed enhancers? How redundant are these elements? What is the function of distributed enhancers? How modular are enhancers? Is it useful to study a single enhancer in isolation? In addition, a revised definition of “shadow enhancers” is proposed, and possible mechanisms of shadow enhancer function and evolution are discussed.

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  • Sub-additivity may underlie some cases of functional enhancer redundancy, such as for Drosophila shadow enhancers that can back up important developmental enhancers and enable them to accumulate deleterious mutations.

    “Sub-additivity may also underlie some cases of functional enhancer redundancy, such as for Drosophila “shadow enhancers” that can “back up” important developmental enhancers and enable them to accumulate deleterious mutations [520–522].”

    From Transcriptional enhancers and their communication with gene promoters (2021) · cites this paper as [521]

    The Main Text describes Drosophila shadow enhancers that can compensate for the loss of another enhancer under normal laboratory conditions, supporting the backup example. The Evolvability section discusses the possibility that redundancy permits regulatory change, but does not say that sub-additivity enables important enhancers to accumulate deleterious mutations; it also cautions that enhancers needed for robustness may not be free to change. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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References 92 · Cited by 136

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Authors
Barolo, S.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Barolo, Scott
ORCID
Barolo, Scott
Venue
BioEssays
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-11-15
Volume
34
Issue
2
Pages
135-141
ISSN
  • 0265-9247 (ISSN-L)
  • 1521-1878
DOI
10.1002/bies.201100121
PMC
PMC3517143
OpenAlex
W2133870073
Cited by
136
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 12
FWCI
1.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • BioEssays (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM076509, R01GM076509)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
Keywords
cis-regulatory elements, enhancer redundancy, transcriptional regulation, enhancer evolution, gene expression regulation
MeSH terms
Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Transcription, Genetic, Genomics

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