Evolutionary Dynamics of Prokaryotic Transcriptional Regulatory Networks

Madan — 2006-06-06T09:33:34-00:00

Journal of Molecular Biology, Vol. 358, No. 2. (28 April 2006), pp. 614-633.

The structure of complex transcriptional regulatory networks has been studied extensively in certain model organisms. However, the evolutionary dynamics of these networks across organisms, which would reveal important principles of adaptive regulatory changes, are poorly understood. We use the known transcriptional regulatory network of Escherichia coli to analyse the conservation patterns of this network across 175 prokaryotic genomes, and predict components of the regulatory networks for these organisms. We observe that transcription factors are typically less conserved than their target genes and evolve independently of them, with different organisms evolving distinct repertoires of transcription factors responding to specific signals. We show that prokaryotic transcriptional regulatory networks have evolved principally through widespread tinkering of transcriptional interactions at the local level by embedding orthologous genes in different types of regulatory motifs. Different transcription factors have emerged independently as dominant regulatory hubs in various organisms, suggesting that they have convergently acquired similar network structures approximating a scale-free topology. We note that organisms with similar lifestyles across a wide phylogenetic range tend to conserve equivalent interactions and network motifs. Thus, organism-specific optimal network designs appear to have evolved due to selection for specific transcription factors and transcriptional interactions, allowing responses to prevalent environmental stimuli. The methods for biological network analysis introduced here can be applied generally to study other networks, and these predictions can be used to guide specific experiments.

The Evolution of Two-Component Systems in Bacteria Reveals Different Strategies for Niche Adaptation

Eric Alm — 2007-07-09T12:20:08-00:00

PLoS Computational Biology, Vol. 2, No. 11. (1 November 2006), e143.

Two-component systems including histidine protein kinases represent the primary signal transduction paradigm in prokaryotic organisms. To understand how these systems adapt to allow organisms to detect niche-specific signals, we analyzed the phylogenetic distribution of nearly 5,000 histidine protein kinases from 207 sequenced prokaryotic genomes. We found that many genomes carry a large repertoire of recently evolved signaling genes, which may reflect selective pressure to adapt to new environmental conditions. Both lineage-specific gene family expansion and horizontal gene transfer play major roles in the introduction of new histidine kinases into genomes; however, there are differences in how these two evolutionary forces act. Genes imported via horizontal transfer are more likely to retain their original functionality as inferred from a similar complement of signaling domains, while gene family expansion accompanied by domain shuffling appears to be a major source of novel genetic diversity. Family expansion is the dominant source of new histidine kinase genes in the genomes most enriched in signaling proteins, and detailed analysis reveals that divergence in domain structure and changes in expression patterns are hallmarks of recent expansions. Finally, while these two modes of gene acquisition are widespread across bacterial taxa, there are clear species-specific preferences for which mode is used.

CiteULike: Retchless regulation

Evolutionary Dynamics of Prokaryotic Transcriptional Regulatory Networks

The Evolution of Two-Component Systems in Bacteria Reveals Different Strategies for Niche Adaptation