title: Evolutionary rewiring of bacterial regulatory networks.
abstract: Bacteria have evolved complex regulatory networks that enable integration of multiple intracellular and extracellular signals to coordinate responses to environmental changes. However, our knowledge of how regulatory systems function and evolve is still relatively limited. There is often extensive homology between components of different networks, due to past cycles of gene duplication, divergence, and horizontal gene transfer, raising the possibility of cross-talk or redundancy. Consequently, evolutionary resilience is built into gene networks - homology between regulators can potentially allow rapid rescue of lost regulatory function across distant regions of the genome. In our recent study [Taylor,et al.Science (2015), 347(6225)] we find that mutations that facilitate cross-talk between pathways can contribute to gene network evolution, but that such mutations come with severe pleiotropic costs. Arising from this work are a number of questions surrounding how this phenomenon occurs.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Tiffany B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mulley
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Liam J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: McGuffin
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Louise J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brockhurst
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK. ; Department of Biology, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arseneault
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA.
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Silby
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AJ, UK. ; The University of Akureyri, Borgir vid Nordurslod, IS-600 Akureyri, Iceland.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Jackson
keywords: bacterial motility; enhancing binding proteins; flagella regulation; gene network evolution; nitrogen regulation