ABI Innovation: Analysis of Operon Evolution Using an Even Driven Approach

爱荷华州立大学因研究细菌操纵子的进化而获得拨款。许多细菌蛋白质在相同的代谢途径中共同工作，和/或作为一个复合体。在许多情况下，这些蛋白质的编码基因在染色体上聚集在一起，受到共同的控制机制，并被转录成单一的RNA分子，蛋白质从该分子转录而来。据估计，根据个体基因组的不同，5%到25%的细菌基因位于操纵子中。这项工作将探索共转录基因簇的构建和/或破坏是否作为一系列可以识别的连续事件发生。这项研究将通过对大量细菌基因组的比较基因组分析来确定操纵子进化中发生的事件。这些事件包括基因获得、基因丢失、横向基因转移和不同类型的基因组结构变化。将要回答的问题是：哪些是操纵子进化的决定性事件？是否有一些事件在定义操纵子随时间变化的过程中越来越占主导地位？这些事件是普遍的，还是在操纵子和不同的细菌属之间有所不同？如果是后者，哪些是不同的显性事件，通过研究它们，我们可以从操纵子进化中了解到什么？同时控制相关基因转录的能力是一种强大的遗传机制，在许多水平上影响细菌的生命和功能。了解操纵子是如何进化的，将提供对最基本和最普遍的细菌遗传结构之一的洞察。这反过来将帮助我们更好地了解进化细菌，它们构成了生命领域中最多样化和最有影响力的领域。这项研究使我们能够引入新的假说来理解操纵子是如何进化的，并提出不同的操纵子可能是使用可以识别的不同机制进化的。该项目将结合计算科学和生物学，培养本科生和研究生，包括支持少数民族教育和研究的项目。该项目的结果将通过一个描述操纵子及其进化轨迹的免费数据库传播。

A grant is awarded to Iowa State University for research into the evolution of bacterial operons. Many bacterial proteins work together in the same metabolic pathway, and/or as a complex. In many cases, the genes coding for these proteins are clustered together on the chromosome are under a common controlling mechanism, and are transcribed into a single RNA molecule from which the proteins are translated. It is estimated that, depending on the individual genome, between 5 and 25% of bacterial genes reside in operons. Work will explore whether the construction and/or destruction of clusters of co-transcribed genes takes place as a sequential series of events that can be identified. This research will identify the events that happen in operon evolution through comparative genome analyses of a large number of bacterial genomes. These events include gene gain, gene loss, lateral gene transfer, and different types of changes in the genomic structure. The questions which will be answered are: which are the determining events of operon evolution? Are there events that are more and less dominant in defining a change over time in operons? Are these events universal, or vary between operons and different bacterial genera? If the latter, which are the varying dominant events and what can we learn about operon evolution from studying them?The ability to simultaneously control the transcription of related genes is a strong genetic mechanism that influences bacterial life and functionality on many levels. Understanding how operons evolve will provide insight into one of the most basic and prevalent bacterial genetic structures. This, in turn, will help us better understand the evolution bacteria, which constitute the most diverse and influential of life's domains. This study enables the introduction of new hypotheses to understanding how operons evolve, and proposes that different operons may have evolved using different mechanisms that can be identified. This project, at the interface of computational science and biology, will train undergraduate and graduate students, including programs that support minority education and research. The result of this project will be disseminated through a freely-accessible database describing operons and their evolutionary trajectories.