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A large-scale study by molecular biologists from the University of Heidelberg has produced groundbreaking new insights into the evolution and regulation of gene expression in mammalian organs. Scientists studied RNA synthesis and subsequent protein synthesis in human and other representative mammalian organs and, with the help of sequencing technologies, analyzed more than 100 billion gene expression fragments from various organs. They were able to show that the finely tuned interplay of the two synthesis processes during evolution was crucial for shaping organ functions.
A complex interplay of activity between a large number of genes, known as gene expression, underlies organ functions. “Until now, our understanding of these essential genetic programs in mammals was limited to the first layer of gene expression, the production of messenger RNA,” explains Prof. Dr. Henrik Kaessmann, leader of the research group “Functional evolution of genomes. of mammals “team at the Center for Molecular Biology of the University of Heidelberg (ZMBH). “The next layer – the actual synthesis of proteins in the ribosome through the translation of messenger RNAs – has remained largely unknown.”
It is this second synthesis process that the Heidelberg researchers have now studied more closely. Using so-called next-generation sequencing technologies, they analyzed the gene expression of various organs on both layers. They studied the brains, liver and testes of humans and other select mammals, including rhesus monkeys, mice, possums and platypus. ‘Based on these data, we were able to jointly study both layers of gene expression and compare them between mammalian organs using cutting-edge bioinformatics approaches,’ explains Dr. Evgeny Leushkin of the ZMBH.
In their large-scale study, ZMBH researchers demonstrated that the finely tuned interplay of the two synthesis processes during evolution was critical to model organ functions. For the first time, they were able to demonstrate that, in addition to the regulation of messenger RNA production, other regulatory mechanisms at the translation level are crucial to optimize the amount of proteins produced in all organs. This is especially true in the testes, where translational regulation is critical for sperm development. Another important finding relates to the mutational changes in gene expression regulation that occurred during evolution. These changes were often balanced between the two layers. The mutually compensating modifications were maintained primarily to ensure the production of consistent amounts of protein.
Researchers from France and Switzerland contributed to the study. Funding was provided by the German Research Foundation and the European Research Council. The data is available in a public access database. Their research results were published in Nature.
Organ development networks for the control of gene activity
Zhong-Yi Wang et al, Transcriptome and translatome coevolution in mammals, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-020-2899-z
Provided by the University of Heidelberg
Quote: How Organ Functions Were Modeled During Evolution (2020, November 11) Retrieved November 11, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-11-functions-evolution.html
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