title: Genetic properties influencing the evolvability of gene expression.
abstract: Identifying the properties of gene networks that influence their evolution is a fundamental research goal. However, modes of evolution cannot be inferred solely from the distribution of natural variation, because selection interacts with demography and mutation rates to shape polymorphism and divergence. We estimated the effects of naturally occurring mutations on gene expression while minimizing the effect of natural selection. We demonstrate that sensitivity of gene expression to mutations increases with both increasing trans-mutational target size and the presence of a TATA box. Genes with greater sensitivity to mutations are also more sensitive to systematic environmental perturbations and stochastic noise. These results provide a mechanistic basis for gene expression evolvability that can serve as a foundation for realistic models of regulatory evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. clandry@post.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Christian R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rifkin
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Dickinson
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hartl
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016014:Linear Models; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D016385:TATA Box; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors