James Birchler - University of Missouri

In the process of studying the white eye color gene, we found several cases of dispersed transgene silencing (cosuppression). We have now documented that there are most likely two separate mechanisms for dispersed gene silencing in flies. The first involves a transcriptional process in which the silenced transgenes are associated with the Polycomb group of repressive chromatin proteins.

Further Information: http://www.biotech.missouri.edu/mbp/nih/birchler/research.html