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Related Concept Videos

What is Gene Expression?01:42

What is Gene Expression?

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Overview
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
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Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes03:21

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While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.
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The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
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Cell Specific Gene Expression01:58

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Multicellular organisms contain a variety of structurally and functionally distinct cell types, but the DNA in all the cells originated from the same parent cells. The differences in the cells can be attributed to the differential gene expression. Liver cells, whose functions include detoxification of blood, production of bile to metabolize fats, and synthesis of proteins essential for metabolism, must express a specific set of genes to perform their functions. Gene expression also varies with...
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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution
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Repeatability of gene expression evolution in experimental environmental adaptation.

Jiachen Li1,2, Jianzhi Zhang3

  • 1Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Nature Communications
|January 26, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary adaptation is surprisingly repeatable. Laboratory experiments show that gene expression changes predictably across replicate populations, driven by environment-specific selection, not just chance.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genomics
  • Molecular biology

Background:

  • Understanding the balance between chance and necessity in evolution is a key question.
  • Laboratory evolution studies provide a controlled environment to investigate evolutionary repeatability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the repeatability of gene expression evolution across multiple species and environments.
  • To determine the extent to which environmental selection drives predictable evolutionary changes in gene expression.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of transcriptome data from 10 laboratory evolution studies involving 6 species (1 prokaryotic, 5 eukaryotic).
  • Examination of 182,103 gene expression traits across 22 distinct environments.
  • Comparison of replicate evolution within the same versus different environments and with mutation accumulation experiments.

Main Results:

  • Gene expression evolution showed high repeatability, exceeding chance expectations by 10-100 standard deviations.
  • Concordance in expression evolution was primarily driven by environment-specific selection.
  • Genes regulated by more transcription factors exhibited more repeatable expression evolution.

Conclusions:

  • Phenotypic evolution, specifically gene expression, is highly repeatable and deterministic during environmental adaptation.
  • This contrasts with the often unrepeatable nature of genotypic evolution.
  • Environment-specific selection plays a crucial role in shaping predictable evolutionary trajectories.