Transcriptional rewiring over evolutionary timescales changes quantitative and qualitative properties of gene expression.
Evolutionary changes in transcription networks are an important source of diversity across species, yet the quantitative consequences of network evolution have rarely been studied. Here we consider the transcriptional 'rewiring' of the threeGALgenes that encode the enzymes needed for cells to convert galactose to glucose. InSaccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcriptional regulator Gal4 binds and activates these genes. In the human pathogenCandida albicans(which last shared a common ancestor withS. cerevisiaesome 300 million years ago), we show that different regulators, Rtg1 and Rtg3, activate the threeGALgenes. Using single-cell dynamics and RNA-sequencing, we demonstrate that although the overall logic of regulation is the same in both species-theGALgenes are induced by galactose-there are major differences in both the quantitative response of these genes to galactose and in the position of these genes in the overall transcription network structure of the two species.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
Chiraj K
0000-0002-3624-8409
CK
Dalal
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.|California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
Ignacio A
IA
Zuleta
Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.
Kaitlin F
KF
Mitchell
Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.
David R
DR
Andes
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.|California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
Hana
H
El-Samad
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.|Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.
Alexander D
AD
Johnson
D005075:Biological Evolution; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005690:Galactose / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D005947:Glucose; D005690:Galactose
C. albicans; S. cerevisiae; evolutionary biology; galactose metabolism; gene regulation; genomics; infectious disease; microbiology; population dynamics; transcriptional rewiring