MBE Advance Access originally published online on September 23, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2008 25(12):2513-2516; doi:10.1093/molbev/msn212
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Letters |
Regulation Dynamics of WGD Genes during Yeast Metabolic Oscillation

* Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University
E-mail: zg27{at}cornell.edu.
Accepted for publication August 22, 2008.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its close relatives are characterized by their propensity to ferment even in the presence of oxygen. It was hypothesized that whole-genome duplication (WGD) led to the development of this efficient fermentative lifestyle (WGD–fermentation hypothesis, Piskur 2001. In this study, we found that a significantly higher proportion of WGD genes than non-WGD genes are dynamically regulated during metabolic oscillation in response to oxygen change. The same data set also shows that the WGD genes, as compared with the smaller scale duplicate genes, are enriched with pairs where both copies have cyclic expression during the metabolic oscillation (either with the same or different phases). These results provide new evidences for the WGD–fermentation hypothesis and new insights into the relationship between the genome duplication and the evolution of new lifestyles in eukaryotic organisms.
Key Words: WGD yeast metabolic cycling genes WGD–fermentation hypothesis
Kenneth Wolfe, Associate Editor