A short conserved sequence in the HOT region of the C. elegans dlg-1 gene largely recapitulates its transcriptional behavior during embryogenesis
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High occupancy target (HOT) regions, genomic sites bound by many transcription factors, are found across eukaryotes, but their regulatory roles remain unclear. In Caenorhabditis elegans , transcription primarily relies on promoter-proximal elements, and HOT regions frequently coincide with constitutively active promoters. Examining the dlg-1 locus, we identify a putative HOT region essential for embryonic expression. A small sequence within this region, far upstream of the transcription start site, is essential for dlg-1 transcriptional levels. In addition, the first intron modestly enhances transcription. These findings reveal that HOT regions in non-canonical positions can play critical roles in gene regulation in C. elegans .