Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability.
Essential genes code for fundamental cellular functions required for the viability of an organism. For this reason, essential genes are often highly conserved across organisms. However, this is not always the case: orthologues of genes that are essential in one organism are sometimes not essential i...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2012-06-01
|
| Series: | PLoS Genetics |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3386227?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818456930841001984 |
|---|---|
| author | Tobias Bergmiller Martin Ackermann Olin K Silander |
| author_facet | Tobias Bergmiller Martin Ackermann Olin K Silander |
| author_sort | Tobias Bergmiller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Essential genes code for fundamental cellular functions required for the viability of an organism. For this reason, essential genes are often highly conserved across organisms. However, this is not always the case: orthologues of genes that are essential in one organism are sometimes not essential in other organisms or are absent from their genomes. This suggests that, in the course of evolution, essential genes can be rendered nonessential. How can a gene become non-essential? Here we used genetic manipulation to deplete the products of 26 different essential genes in Escherichia coli. This depletion results in a lethal phenotype, which could often be rescued by the overexpression of a non-homologous, non-essential gene, most likely through replacement of the essential function. We also show that, in a smaller number of cases, the essential genes can be fully deleted from the genome, suggesting that complete functional replacement is possible. Finally, we show that essential genes whose function can be replaced in the laboratory are more likely to be non-essential or not present in other taxa. These results are consistent with the notion that patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes are influenced by their compensability-that is, by how easily they can be functionally replaced, for example through increased expression of other genes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T22:34:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-168e8514f7fd4f49afee95ba962e814b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-7390 1553-7404 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T22:34:30Z |
| publishDate | 2012-06-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-168e8514f7fd4f49afee95ba962e814b2022-12-21T22:45:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Genetics1553-73901553-74042012-06-0186e100280310.1371/journal.pgen.1002803Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability.Tobias BergmillerMartin AckermannOlin K SilanderEssential genes code for fundamental cellular functions required for the viability of an organism. For this reason, essential genes are often highly conserved across organisms. However, this is not always the case: orthologues of genes that are essential in one organism are sometimes not essential in other organisms or are absent from their genomes. This suggests that, in the course of evolution, essential genes can be rendered nonessential. How can a gene become non-essential? Here we used genetic manipulation to deplete the products of 26 different essential genes in Escherichia coli. This depletion results in a lethal phenotype, which could often be rescued by the overexpression of a non-homologous, non-essential gene, most likely through replacement of the essential function. We also show that, in a smaller number of cases, the essential genes can be fully deleted from the genome, suggesting that complete functional replacement is possible. Finally, we show that essential genes whose function can be replaced in the laboratory are more likely to be non-essential or not present in other taxa. These results are consistent with the notion that patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes are influenced by their compensability-that is, by how easily they can be functionally replaced, for example through increased expression of other genes.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3386227?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Tobias Bergmiller Martin Ackermann Olin K Silander Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. PLoS Genetics |
| title | Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. |
| title_full | Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. |
| title_fullStr | Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. |
| title_short | Patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability. |
| title_sort | patterns of evolutionary conservation of essential genes correlate with their compensability |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3386227?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tobiasbergmiller patternsofevolutionaryconservationofessentialgenescorrelatewiththeircompensability AT martinackermann patternsofevolutionaryconservationofessentialgenescorrelatewiththeircompensability AT olinksilander patternsofevolutionaryconservationofessentialgenescorrelatewiththeircompensability |