Hermsen R, ten Wolde PR, Teichmann S. Chance and necessity in chromosomal gene distributions.
Trends Genet 2008;
24:216-9. [PMID:
18378035 DOI:
10.1016/j.tig.2008.02.004]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2007] [Revised: 02/15/2008] [Accepted: 02/19/2008] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
By analyzing the spacing of genes on chromosomes, we find that transcriptional and RNA-processing regulatory sequences outside coding regions leave footprints on the distribution of intergenic distances. Using analogies between genes on chromosomes and one-dimensional gases, we constructed a statistical null model. We used this to estimate typical upstream and downstream regulatory sequence sizes in various species. Deviations from this model reveal bi-directional transcriptional regulatory regions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bi-directional terminators in Escherichia coli.
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