Competition and evolutionary selection among core regulatory motifs in gene expression control
Andras Gyorgy · 2023
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Description
Andras Gyorgy shows that the cheapest way for a cell to switch a gene can win evolution's vote, in a 2023 theory paper. A gene product useful today may burden the cell tomorrow, so bacteria wrap genes in regulatory circuits that cost energy to run. Turning a regulator's own gene up or down, called autoregulation, ensures it appears only when needed. Gyorgy models what happens when mutation and changing environments act together.
Autoregulation usually beats the alternatives in that setting. Whether self-activation or self-repression takes over depends on how much of the product the cell typically needs. Self-repression blocks the spread of broken regulator copies, while self-activation, surprisingly, helps them spread. Checking the control networks of several organisms, he finds autoregulation favoured among gene switches, consistent with the energy-saving story. The results also hint at design rules for synthetic circuits.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Andras Gyorgy |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2023 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 47 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |