Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on March 3, 2009
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msp040
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
26/6/1299    most recent
msp040v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kristiansson, E.
Right arrow Articles by Nerman, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kristiansson, E.
Right arrow Articles by Nerman, O.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

Evolutionary forces act on promoter length: identification of enriched cis-regulatory elements

Erik Kristiansson1,2,3,4,*, Michael Thorsen5, Markus J. Tamás6 and Olle Nerman3,4

1 Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
2 Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Box 434, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
3 Department of Mathematical Statistics, Chalmers University of Technology, S-412 96, Göteborg, Sweden
4 Department of Mathematical Statistics, University of Gothenburg, S-412 96, Göteborg, Sweden
5 Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
6 Department of Cell and Molecular Biology/Microbiology, University of Gothenburg, S-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

* Corresponding author, erik.kristiansson{at}zool.gu.se, Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, s-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden, Phone: +46 - 31 – 7863357, Fax: +46 – 31 416729.

Received for publication September 22, 2008. Revision received February 6, 2009. Accepted for publication February 24, 2009.

Transcription factors govern gene expression by binding to short DNA-sequences called cis-regulatory elements. These sequences are typically located in promoters, which are regions of variable length upstream of the open reading frames of genes. Here, we report that promoter length and gene function are related in yeast, fungi and plants. In particular, the promoters for stress responsive genes are in general longer than those of other genes. Essential genes have, on the other hand, relatively short promoters. We utilize these findings in a novel method for identifying relevant cis-regulatory elements in a set of co-expressed genes. The method is shown to generate more accurate results and fewer false positives compared to other common procedures. Our results suggest that genes with complex transcriptional regulation tend to have longer promoters than genes responding to few signals. This phenomenon is present in all investigated species, indicating that evolution adjust promoter length according to gene function. Identification of cis-regulatory elements in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be done with the web service located at http://enricher.zool.gu.se.

Key Words: gene regulation • transcription factor • promoter • cis-regulatory element


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.