Mutational sources of < i > trans < /i > -regulatory variation affecting gene expression in < i > Saccharomyces cerevisiae < /i >

Heritable variation in a gene ’s expression arises from mutations impactingcis- andtrans-acting components of its regulatory network. Here, we investigate howtrans-regulatory mutations are distributed within the genome and within a gene regulatory network by identifying and characterizing 69 mutations withtrans-regulatory effects on expression of the same focal gene inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Relative to 1766 mutations without effects on expression of this focal gene, we found that thesetrans-regulatory mutations were enriched in coding sequences of transcription factors previously predicted to regulate expression of the focal gene. However, over 90% of thetrans-regulatory mutations identified mapped to other types of genes involved in diverse biological processes including chromatin state, metabolism, and signal transduction. These data show how genetic changes in diverse types of genes can impact a gene ’s expression intrans, revealing properties oftrans-regulatory mutations that provide the raw material fortrans-regulatory variation segregating within natural populations.
Source: eLife - Category: Biomedical Science Tags: Evolutionary Biology Genetics and Genomics Source Type: research