Global genetic rewiring during compensatory evolution in the yeast polarity network
Enzo Kingma1, Marieke Glazenburg1, Karel Olavarria1
1Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2629 HZ, The Netherlands.
EMBO Reports
|February 16, 2026
Summary
Compensatory evolution can restore function lost to mutations by altering gene networks. This study shows that yeast compensatory evolution rewires cellular processes, not just individual genes, impacting genome-wide gene disruption tolerance.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Systems biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Deleterious mutations can be restored by compensatory mutations during evolution.
- Compensatory evolution generates genetic diversity in biological networks across species.
- The influence of molecular interactions on compensatory evolution options is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how gene deletions compensating for a defect in the polarity pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae affect the fitness landscape.
- To understand the impact of compensatory evolution on genome-wide gene disruption tolerance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a transposon mutagenesis screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
- Analyzed functional associations between affected genes in compensated strains.
- Examined changes in genome-wide gene disruption tolerance.
Main Results:
- Compensatory evolution altered genome-wide gene disruption tolerance in the compensated yeast strain.
- Compensation affected cellular processes unrelated to the initial polarity defect.
- Genes within the same biological process exhibited similar tolerance changes, indicating process-level rewiring.
Conclusions:
- Compensatory evolution impacts cellular processes collectively rather than individual genes.
- Functional overlap between biological modules and network interconnectedness are key factors in compensatory evolution.
- This rewiring of cellular processes contributes to adaptation and genetic diversity.
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