Nematostella vectensis BAC sequences

Abstract

A key tool for investigating the regulation of genes is represented by Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes-reporter constructs (BAC). BACs are large insert libraries, often >>100 kb, which thus capture the genomic sequences surrounding a gene of interest, including all, or nearly all, of the elements underpinning regulation. Recombinant BACs, containing a reporter gene in place of the endogenous coding sequence of genes, can be utilized to drive the expression of reporter genes under the regulatory control of the gene of interest while still embedded within its genomic context. Systematic deletions within the BAC reporter construct can be used to identify the minimal reporter in an unbiased way, avoiding the risk of overlooking regulatory elements that may be many kilobases away from the transcription start-site. Nematostella vectensis (Edwardsiidae, Anthozoa, Cnidaria) has become an important model in regenerative biology, ecology, and especially in studies of evo-devo and gene-regulatory networks due to its interesting phylogenetic position and amenability to molecular techniques. This dataset represents the sequencing of 5 Nematostella vectensis BACs containing the genes of interest: NvDpp, NvChordin, NvFoxa, NvWnta, and NvWnt1.