研究揭示轉錄迴路的進化規律
作者：
小柯機器人發布時間：2020/1/3 14:48:42
美國加州大學舊金山分校Alexander D. Johnson課題組發現在在新進化的轉錄迴路中，蛋白質編碼變化先於順式調節的形成。相關論文於2020年1月3日發表於國際學術期刊《科學》。
研究人員表示，轉錄調節因子的編碼序列和被這些調節因子識別的順式調節序列的變化都與轉錄迴路的進化有關。但是，人們對它們如何協同進化知之甚少。
研究人員描述了真菌中的進化途徑，其通過編碼這種古老調節因子的變化而進化出新的轉錄迴路（由同源域蛋白Matα2介導的特異性基因抑制），隨後數百萬年中其未來調節子基因的順式調節序列發生變化 。通過分析一組已經獲得編碼變化但不具有順式調節位點的物種，研究人員發現編碼變化對於調節因子的深度保守功能而言是必需的，從而使調節因子具備了啟動新迴路形成的能力。
附：英文原文
Title: Protein-coding changes preceded cis-regulatory gains in a newly evolved transcription circuit
Author: Candace S. Britton, Trevor R. Sorrells, Alexander D. Johnson
Issue&Volume: 2020/01/03
Abstract: Changes in both the coding sequence of transcriptional regulators and in the cis-regulatory sequences recognized by these regulators have been implicated in the evolution of transcriptional circuits. However, little is known about how they evolved in concert. We describe an evolutionary pathway in fungi where a new transcriptional circuit (a-specific gene repression by the homeodomain protein Matα2) evolved by coding changes in this ancient regulator, followed millions of years later by cis-regulatory sequence changes in the genes of its future regulon. By analyzing a group of species that has acquired the coding changes but not the cis-regulatory sites, we show that the coding changes became necessary for the regulator’s deeply conserved function, thereby poising the regulator to jump-start formation of the new circuit.
DOI: 10.1126/science.aax5217
Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6473/96
Science：《科學》，創刊於1880年。隸屬於美國科學促進會，最新IF：41.037