Mechanistic and evolutionary aspects of gene expression noise in yeast

  • Date: May 23, 2016
  • Time: 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Professor John McCarthy
  • School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
  • Location: MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
  • Room: Lecture hall
  • Host: Prof. Dr. Victor Sourjik
  • Contact: victor.sourjik@synmikro.mpi-marburg.mpg.de
Gene expression stochasticity (or noise) generates non-genetic cellular diversity,from microbes to mammals. By creating phenotypic diversity for otherwise geneticallyidentical cells, stochasticity is crucial for optimised resource utilisation and adaptationof microorganisms to a stressful fluctuating environment. Recent analysis indicatesthat gene expression noise reduces mean fitness in yeast by at least 25%. It hasbeen widely assumed that the predominant source of this noise is transcription.However, in this talk I will demonstrate that this is an oversimplification. The yeastcell commits a large percentage (>76%) of its ‘energy budget’ to protein synthesis.Therefore rate control and noise management in the translation machinery will havemajor impacts on organism fitness. I will consider the ‘rules’ determining therelationship between mechanism, rate control and limits of noise generation forcomponents of the translation machinery.
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