Positive correlation between gene coexpression and positional clustering in the zebrafish genome.
BACKGROUND
Co-expressing genes tend to cluster in eukaryotic genomes. This paper analyzes correlation between the proximity of eukaryotic genes and their transcriptional expression pattern in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) genome using available microarray data and gene annotation.


RESULTS
The analyses show that neighbouring genes are significantly coexpressed in the zebrafish genome, and the coexpression level is influenced by the intergenic distance and transcription orientation. This fact is further supported by examining the coexpression level of genes within positional clusters in the neighbourhood model. There is a positive correlation between gene coexpression and positional clustering in the zebrafish genome.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides another piece of evidence for the hypothesis that coexpressed genes do cluster in the eukaryotic genomes.
Ng
Yen Kaow
YK
Department of Mathematics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543, Singapore. matnyk@nus.edu.sg
Wu
Wei
W
Zhang
Louxin
L
D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016678:Genome; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics*