Molecular evolution across developmental time reveals rapid divergence in early embryogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Ontogenetic development hinges on the changes in gene expression in time and space within an organism, suggesting that the demands of ontogenetic growth can impose or reveal predictable pattern in the molecular evolution of genes expressed dynamically across development. Here, we characterize coexpression modules of the Caenorhabditis elegans transcriptome, using a time series of 30 points from early embryo to adult. By capturing the functional form of expression profiles with quantitative metrics, we find fastest evolution in the distinctive set of genes with transcript abundance that declines through development from a peak in young embryos. These genes are highly enriched for oogenic function and transient early zygotic expression, are nonrandomly distributed in the genome, and c

SUBMITTER: Cutter AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6675142 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature