The Evolution of Gene Expression QTL in Yeast
Author Information
Author(s): Ronald James Akey, Joshua M. Akey
Primary Institution: Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Hypothesis
Understanding the evolutionary forces that influence patterns of gene expression variation will provide insights into the mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Conclusion
Purifying selection against mildly deleterious alleles is the dominant force governing cis-regulatory evolution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Supporting Evidence
- Purifying selection against mildly deleterious alleles is the dominant force governing cis-regulatory evolution.
- Approximately 68% of promoter and 3′ UTR derived alleles are classified as rare.
- Essential genes and genes with larger codon bias are subject to slightly stronger cis-regulatory constraint.
Takeaway
This study looks at how gene expression changes in yeast over time and finds that most changes are kept in check by natural selection.
Methodology
The study analyzed genetic variation for 1206 cis-regulatory QTL identified in a cross between two divergent strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Potential Biases
Potential biases due to incomplete power of the data set and the presence of linked trans-acting regulatory genes.
Limitations
The analyses were sensitive to the estimated power of the linkage analyses and the estimated false-positive rate.
Participant Demographics
The study involved two divergent strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: BY4716 and RM11-1a.
Statistical Information
P-Value
1.2×10−4
Confidence Interval
95% CI 0.13–0.32
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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