A study was made of the functional role of silencers in the long-distance interaction between insulators. Transgenic lines containing the Su(Hw) and Zw5 insulators were analyzed. The silencers failed to efficiently suppress transcription of the
yellow gene, nor did they neutralize the effect of the Su(Hw) insulator. The long-distance interaction between insulators was assumed to depend on the combined effects of silencers, insulators, and, possibly, some unidentified regulatory elements.
Translated from Genetika, Vol. 40, No. 12, 2004, pp. 1722–1425.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Kullyev, Savytskaya, Georgiev, Gruzdeva.