Work

Transcriptional rewiring over evolutionary timescales changes quantitative and qualitative properties of gene expression

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Evolutionary changes in transcription networks are an important source of diversity across species, yet the quantitative consequences of network evolution have rarely been studied. Here we consider the transcriptional ‘rewiring’ of the three GAL genes that encode the enzymes needed for cells to convert galactose to glucose. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcriptional regulator Gal4 binds and activates these genes. In the human pathogen Candida albicans (which last shared a common ancestor with S. cerevisiae some 300 million years ago), we show that different regulators, Rtg1 and Rtg3, activate the three GAL genes. Using single-cell dynamics and RNA-sequencing, we demonstrate that although the overall logic of regulation is the same in both species—the GAL genes are induced by galactose—there are major differences in both the quantitative response of these genes to galactose and in the position of these genes in the overall transcription network structure of the two species.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.18981

Authors: Chiraj K Dalal, Ignacio A Zuleta, Kaitlin F Mitchell, David R Andes, Hana El-Samad, Alexander D Johnson

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, QB3, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Language: English

Topic: Fungal and yeast genetics research

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500

Funders: Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases