External factors accelerate expression divergence between duplicate genes.
We examined the evolution of expression of duplicate genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, by analyzing 512 data sets of gene expression microarrays and 2022 recent duplicate gene pairs. Expression divergence between gene duplicates is significantly greater in response to environmental stress than to developmental processes. A slow rate of expression divergence during development might offer dosage-dependent selective advantage, whereas rapid expression divergence in response to external changes might accelerate adaptation.
Ha
Misook
M
Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology and Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, One University Station, A-4800, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-0159, USA.
Li
Wen-Hsiung
WH
Chen
Z Jeffrey
ZJ
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020131:Genes, Duplicate; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins