Modeling gene expression evolution with an extended Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process accounting for within-species variation.

ABSTRACT: Much of the phenotypic variation observed between even closely related species may be driven by differences in gene expression levels. The current availability of reliable techniques like RNA-Seq, which can quantify expression levels across species, has enabled comparative studies. Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) processes have been proposed to model gene expression evolution as they model both random drift and stabilizing selection and can be extended to model changes in selection regimes. The OU models provide a statistical framework that allows comparisons of specific hypotheses of selective regimes, including random drift, constrained drift, and expression level shifts. In this way, inferences may be made about the mode of selection acting on the expression level of a gene. We augment this mod

SUBMITTER: Rohlfs RV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3879452 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature