Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026
13:06
The Green Monster Process for the Generation of Yeast Strains Carrying Multiple Gene Deletions
Published on: December 15, 2012
Conflict between noise and plasticity in yeast.
1Genetic Systems Laboratory, EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit and ICREA, CRG, UPF, Barcelona, Spain. ben.lehner@crg.es
Plos Genetics
|November 17, 2010
Summary
Gene expression noise and plasticity are not always coupled. This coupling can create evolutionary conflicts, but gene duplication offers a way to overcome these constraints, allowing for more responsive gene expression.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Gene expression exhibits both responsiveness to environmental changes (plasticity) and random fluctuations (noise) among individuals.
- In budding yeast, gene expression plasticity and noise have been observed to correlate across many genes, suggesting a potential mechanistic link.
- This correlation has led to the hypothesis that noise and plasticity are strongly coupled.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between gene expression noise and plasticity and its evolutionary implications.
- To determine if noise-plasticity coupling is a general property or dependent on specific mechanisms.
- To explore how gene duplication affects noise-plasticity coupling and evolutionary constraints.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative analysis of gene expression data in budding yeast.
- Examination of correlations between gene expression noise and plasticity across thousands of genes.
- Investigation of promoter architectures and their association with noise-plasticity coupling.
- Analysis of gene duplication events and their impact on expression variation.
Main Results:
- Noise-plasticity coupling is not a universal property but is associated with specific transcription initiation mechanisms.
- Cost-benefit conflicts arise from noise-plasticity coupling, constraining the evolution of gene expression.
- Promoter architectures promoting coupling are avoided when noise is detrimental; core components show independent noise and plasticity.
- Gene duplication increases noise-plasticity coupling, mitigating detrimental effects of expression variation.
Conclusions:
- Noise-plasticity coupling is an evolvable trait that can limit the emergence of responsive gene expression.
- Gene duplication serves as a mechanism to escape adaptive conflicts imposed by noise-plasticity coupling.
- Understanding noise-plasticity dynamics is crucial for comprehending the evolution of gene regulation.
Related Concept Videos
00:58Plasticity
Plasticity is the property where an object loses its elasticity and undergoes irreversible deformation, even after the deformation forces are eliminated. If a material deforms irreversibly without increasing stress or load, then this is called ideal plasticity. For example, when a force is applied to an aluminum rod, it changes its shape, but it does not return to its original shape once the force is removed. Plastic deformation or ductility is thus a permanent deformation or change in the...
01:28Yeast Signaling
Yeasts are single-celled organisms, but unlike bacteria, they are eukaryotes (cells with a nucleus). Cell signaling in yeast is similar to signaling in other eukaryotic cells. A ligand, such as a protein or a small molecule released from a yeast cell, attaches to a receptor on the cell surface. The binding stimulates second-messenger kinases to activate or inactivate transcription factors that further regulate gene expression. Many of the yeast intracellular signaling cascades have similar...
01:22Bioreactor Controls-III
Strain improvement is a foundational strategy in industrial microbiology aimed at maximizing microbial productivity, particularly because natural isolates typically yield commercially valuable products in very low concentrations. Although optimizing the culture medium and environmental conditions can improve yields, these adjustments are inherently limited by the organism’s genetic potential. As a result, the focus shifts toward genetic modifications to enhance biosynthetic capacity. The...
01:17Gene Regulation During Sporulation
Sporulation is a complex developmental process that allows certain Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium species, to survive extreme environmental conditions. This process is tightly regulated by a series of signaling cascades and transcriptional controls, ensuring the formation of a highly resistant endospore.Sporulation is triggered by unfavorable conditions, such as nutrient depletion, and is governed by a phosphorelay system. One of the sensor kinases, such as...