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Updated: Oct 12, 2025

An Allele-specific Gene Expression Assay to Test the Functional Basis of Genetic Associations
Published on: November 3, 2010
One Hundred Years of Gene Balance: How Stoichiometric Issues Affect Gene Expression, Genome Evolution, and
James A Birchler1, Reiner A Veitia2,3,4
1Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Abstract:
A century ago experiments with the flowering plant Datura stramonium and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster revealed that adding an extra chromosome to a karyotype was much more detrimental than adding a whole set of chromosomes. This phenomenon was referred to as gene balance and has been recapitulated across eukaryotic species. Here, we retrace some developments in this field. Molecular studies suggest that the basis of balance involves stoichiometric relationships of multi-component interactions. This concept has implication for the mechanisms controlling gene expression, genome evolution, sex chromosome evolution/dosage compensation, speciation mechanisms, and the underlying genetics of quantitative traits.
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