Decoupling transcription factor expression and activity enables dimmer switch gene regulation.
Gene-regulatory networks achieve complex mappings of inputs to outputs through mechanisms that are poorly understood. We found that in the galactose-responsive pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the decision to activate the transcription of genes encoding pathway components is controlled independently from the expression level, resulting in behavior resembling that of a ... mechanical dimmer switch. This was not a direct result of chromatin regulation or combinatorial control at galactose-responsive promoters; rather, this behavior was achieved by hierarchical regulation of the expression and activity of a single transcription factor. Hierarchical regulation is ubiquitous, and thus dimmer switch regulation is likely a key feature of many biological systems. Dimmer switch gene regulation may allow cells to fine-tune their responses to multi-input environments on both physiological and evolutionary time scales.
Mesh Terms:
DNA-Binding Proteins, Galactokinase, Galactose, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Gene Regulatory Networks, Genetic Fitness, Glucose, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Models, Genetic, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Repressor Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Transcription Factors, Transcription, Genetic
DNA-Binding Proteins, Galactokinase, Galactose, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Gene Regulatory Networks, Genetic Fitness, Glucose, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Models, Genetic, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Repressor Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Transcription Factors, Transcription, Genetic
Science
Date: Dec. 16, 2020
PubMed ID: 33859035
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