title: Coherent regulation in yeast's cell-cycle network.
abstract: We define a measure of coherent activity for gene regulatory networks, a property that reflects the unity of purpose between the regulatory agents with a common target. We propose that such harmonious regulatory action is desirable under a demand for energy efficiency and may be selected for under evolutionary pressures. We consider two recent models of the cell-cycle regulatory network of the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a case study and calculate their degree of coherence. A comparison with random networks of similar size and composition reveals that the yeast's cell-cycle regulation is wired to yield an exceptionally high level of coherent regulatory activity. We also investigate the mean degree of coherence as a function of the network size, connectivity and the fraction of repressory/activatory interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu Sarıyer 34450, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Neşe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aral
authors.forename: Alkan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kabakçıoğlu
mesh_terms: D002453:Cell Cycle; D002455:Cell Division; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*