Guest post by Christian R. Landry. #TAGC16 Shorts are brief summaries of presentations at The Allied Genetics Conference, a combined meeting of seven genetics research communities held July 13-17, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
When building new phenotypes, evolution often draws on mutations of the intricate mechanisms that regulate gene expression. If such regulatory mutations are associated with the affected genes themselves, they are known as cis regulatory mutations; if the mutations are associated with other genes they are said to act in trans. One trick that researchers have used to differentiate these two effects is to create F1 hybrids between their strains of interest, in which they can follow the expression of two alleles independently. Unequal expression of the two alleles reveals the influence of cis acting mutations. Most studies so far have measured mRNA abundance at steady state and have shown that mutations affecting how much mRNA is present are frequent within and between species. However, survival in a changing environment may depend less on the amount of mRNA produced and more on the time it takes to produce it. But until recently it was largely unknown whether cis acting mutations also affect the timing of gene expression. Ching-Huah Shih, a postdoctoral fellow working with Justin Fay at Washington University, is exploiting the hybrid approach to learn whether cis regulatory variation that affects the dynamics of induction occurs in budding yeast populations and species.
To do so, he measures genome-wide mRNA abundance along a time-course of gene expression induction in hybrids. In a talk presented at the workshop on yeast diversity of the GSA Yeast Genetics Meeting, Ching-Hua showed that cis regulatory variation affecting induction dynamics is as abundant as variation affecting steady-state levels. One major question that emerges from this observation is whether dynamics and steady state levels can be optimized independently from each other by natural selection. Ching-Hua provided a partial yet key answer to this question by showing that species differences in steady-state levels are significantly associated with nucleotide substitutions in the promoter regions, whereas the dynamics are associated with insertions and deletions. Yeast promoter regions are rich in simple sequence repeats that evolve fast by gaining and losing repeat units. Natural selection may thus have plenty of variation to play with to fine-tune gene expression dynamics. One important challenge ahead will be to examine whether natural selection prefers tuning gene expression timing rather than abundance.
P2068B Cis-acting variation in gene expression dynamics within and between Saccharomyces species. Ching-Hua Shih.
TAGC16 Workshop: Beyond cerevisiae: Exploiting yeast diversity in nature to understand genome evolution in diverse environments Organizers: Christian Landry, Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada, and Judith Berman, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
About the author: Christian R. Landry, Université Laval. Christian is doing research in evolutionary systems biology. You can follow him on twitter: @landrychristian and follow the work of his team at http://landrylab.ibis.ulaval.ca/
Guest posts are contributed by members of our community. The views expressed in guest posts are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Genetics Society of America. If you'd like to write a guest post, e-mail communications@genetics-gsa.org.
View all posts by Guest Author »Read more in
-
In Memoriam: Ellsworth Herman Grell (1932–2023), a pioneer of Drosophila genome engineering and annotation
Ellsworth (Ed) Grell blessed the Drosophila community through three enduring legacies: as a pioneer of chromosome mechanics, as a primary organizer and synthesizer of genetic knowledge in Drosophila, and as a graceful mentor to those fortunate to have known him personally. Ed grew up in rural Nebraska, completed his undergraduate studies at Iowa State, and…
-
Congratulations to the #Fungal24 Poster Award winners!
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the GSA Poster Awards for posters presented at the 32nd Fungal Genetics Conference! Undergraduate and graduate student members of GSA were eligible for the awards, and a hard-working team of judges made the determinations. Congratulations to all! Felicia Ebot Ojong, The University of Georgia My research is focused…
-
Poster presentation tips for TAGC 2024
You’ve been selected to present a poster at The Allied Genetics Conference 2024 in March—you’ve celebrated, made plans to attend, now what? This is an exciting opportunity to showcase your research and engage with fellow members of the genetics community, so you want to make sure you’re prepared. We wanted to offer you some tips…
-
Maximize your TAGC 2024 experience
A guide to all that National Harbor & DC have to offer Are you joining us for The Allied Genetics Conference 2024 in March? Make the most of your #TAGC24 experience in National Harbor! We know the science will keep you busy, but you deserve to unwind and have some fun, so we’ve curated a…
-
Early Career Leadership Spotlight: Sarah Petrosky
We’re taking time to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Sarah PetroskyMultimedia SubcommitteeUniversity of Pittsburgh Research Interest I am interested in understanding adaptation that has been happening recently in populations by dissecting the ways that genes underlying an adaptation…
-
TAGC 2024 Early Career Award Winners
GSA is pleased to announce the winners of the early career awards presented at The Allied Genetics Conference 2024. These awards are specific to particular TAGC communities and recognize early career scientists’ outstanding work on their respective research organisms. The awardees will present their talks in keynote sessions at TAGC 2024. Don’t miss the opportunity…
-
Preeminent geneticists recognized with revamped GSA Awards
In 2022, GSA’s Board of Directors launched an audit to review the five major awards conferred by the Society. Today, we are thrilled to announce the recipients of the reimagined GSA Awards, including the new Genetics Society of America Early Career Medal. The scientists honored this year are recognized by their peers for their outstanding…
-
Fly Board funds outreach programs to spread the word about Drosophila research
In 2020, the Fly Board voted to use part of its reserve fund to support efforts to increase trainee participation as well as equity and diversity in the Drosophila community. An awards committee decides how the money will be spent each year, and from 2020–2022, the committee posted a very broad call for applications from…
-
New members of the GSA Board of Directors: 2024–2026
We are pleased to announce the election of four new leaders to the GSA Board of Directors: 2024 Vice President/2025 President Brenda Andrews Professor, University of Toronto It’s an honor to continue my association with the Society by serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors. I have broad knowledge of the ongoing activities…
-
Parrot plumage study aids breeders and endangered natural populations
Yellow coloration is maladaptive in the wild but prized by breeders. People have long been fascinated with birds, which exhibit one of the widest ranges of coloration among vertebrates. Parrots, in particular, have captivated humans by their ability to mimic human speech and spectacular plumage. Brightly colored feathers are used primarily to attract mates, intimidate…
-
Early Career Leadership Spotlight: Sarah Gilmour
We’re taking time to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Sarah GilmourMultimedia SubcommitteeStowers Institute for Medical Research Research Interest Questions of evolution have always fascinated me. I am extremely fortunate to be starting out my research career in a…