On the relation between promoter divergence and gene expression evolution.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have characterized significant differences in the cis-regulatory sequences of related organisms, but the impact of these differences on gene expression remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that most previously identified differences in transcription factor (TF)-binding sequences of yeasts and mammals have no detectable effect on gene expression, suggesting that compensatory mechanisms allow promoters to rapidly evolve while maintaining a stabilized expression pattern. To examine the impact of changes in cis-regulatory elements in a more controlled setting, we compared the genes induced during mating of three yeast species. This response is governed by a single TF (STE12), and variations in its predicted binding sites can indeed account for about half of the observed exp

SUBMITTER: Tirosh I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2238714 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature