Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.

Cis-regulatory sequences are not always conserved across species. Divergence within cis-regulatory sequences may result from the evolution of species-specific patterns of gene expression or the flexible nature of the cis-regulatory code. The identification of functional divergence in cis-regulatory...

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Main Authors: Scott W Doniger, Justin C Fay
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2007-05-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1876492?pdf=render
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author Scott W Doniger
Justin C Fay
author_facet Scott W Doniger
Justin C Fay
author_sort Scott W Doniger
collection DOAJ
description Cis-regulatory sequences are not always conserved across species. Divergence within cis-regulatory sequences may result from the evolution of species-specific patterns of gene expression or the flexible nature of the cis-regulatory code. The identification of functional divergence in cis-regulatory sequences is therefore important for both understanding the role of gene regulation in evolution and annotating regulatory elements. We have developed an evolutionary model to detect the loss of constraint on individual transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). We find that a significant fraction of functionally constrained binding sites have been lost in a lineage-specific manner among three closely related yeast species. Binding site loss has previously been explained by turnover, where the concurrent gain and loss of a binding site maintains gene regulation. We estimate that nearly half of all loss events cannot be explained by binding site turnover. Recreating the mutations that led to binding site loss confirms that these sequence changes affect gene expression in some cases. We also estimate that there is a high rate of binding site gain, as more than half of experimentally identified S. cerevisiae binding sites are not conserved across species. The frequent gain and loss of TFBSs implies that cis-regulatory sequences are labile and, in the absence of turnover, may contribute to species-specific patterns of gene expression.
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spelling doaj.art-a379c382f65140adabb6397a4e90e5562022-12-21T22:50:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582007-05-0135e9910.1371/journal.pcbi.0030099Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.Scott W DonigerJustin C FayCis-regulatory sequences are not always conserved across species. Divergence within cis-regulatory sequences may result from the evolution of species-specific patterns of gene expression or the flexible nature of the cis-regulatory code. The identification of functional divergence in cis-regulatory sequences is therefore important for both understanding the role of gene regulation in evolution and annotating regulatory elements. We have developed an evolutionary model to detect the loss of constraint on individual transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). We find that a significant fraction of functionally constrained binding sites have been lost in a lineage-specific manner among three closely related yeast species. Binding site loss has previously been explained by turnover, where the concurrent gain and loss of a binding site maintains gene regulation. We estimate that nearly half of all loss events cannot be explained by binding site turnover. Recreating the mutations that led to binding site loss confirms that these sequence changes affect gene expression in some cases. We also estimate that there is a high rate of binding site gain, as more than half of experimentally identified S. cerevisiae binding sites are not conserved across species. The frequent gain and loss of TFBSs implies that cis-regulatory sequences are labile and, in the absence of turnover, may contribute to species-specific patterns of gene expression.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1876492?pdf=render
spellingShingle Scott W Doniger
Justin C Fay
Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
title_full Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
title_fullStr Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
title_full_unstemmed Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
title_short Frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites.
title_sort frequent gain and loss of functional transcription factor binding sites
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1876492?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT scottwdoniger frequentgainandlossoffunctionaltranscriptionfactorbindingsites
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