GAGA-Associated Factor Fosters Loop Formation in the Drosophila Genome

The role of genome organization in the control of gene expression persists as a central mystery of modern biology. Most efforts have focused on the role of boundary elements and CTCF in the compartmentalization of the genome into a series of topological associating domains (TADs). These compartments have been suggested to enable long-range DNA-DNA associations via loop extrusion processes. However, there is emerging evidence for long-range focal contacts, whereby specific DNA sequences associated with promoters and distal enhancers interact to form chromatin loops. One such class of DNAs, tethering elements, binds GAGA-associated factor (GAF). Previous studies provided evidence that GAF possesses amyloid properties in vitro, enabling the formation of loops bridging separate DNA molecules. In this study we investigated the possibility that GAF also functions as a looping factor in Drosophila development. We employed a combination of Micro-C assays, proteasomal degradation, and genome editing to examine the impact of defined GAF mutants on genome topology. These studies suggest that the N-terminal POZ/BTB oligomerization domain is particularly important for long-range interactions of GAF bound to distant GAGA-rich tethering elements. By contrast, the C-terminal low complexity domain (poly Q) plays only a minor role in loop formation. The most striking effects of GAF mutants are observed for long-range promoter-promoter interactions that coordinate the activities of distant paralogous genes. Testing effect of GAF depletion or GAF mutants on chromatin structure, GAF binding to chromatin and gene expression in Drosophila