A global view of the selection forces in the evolution of yeast cis-regulation
Amos Tanay, Irit Gat-Viks and Ron Shamir

Genome Research, In Press



The interaction between transcription factors and their DNA binding sites is key to understanding gene regulation. By performing a genome-wide study of the evolutionary dynamics in yeast promoters, we provide a first global view of the network of selection forces in the evolution of transcription factor binding sites. This analysis gives rise to new models for binding site activity, identifies families of related binding sites and characterizes the functional similarities among them. We discover rich and highly optimized selective pressures operating inside and around these families. In several cases, this organization reveals that a single transcription factor has multiple functional modes. We demonstrate how such functional heterogeneity is related to the binding sites affinity and how it is exploited in transcription programs.


Analyzing binding site evolution



Links to MIT and WashU Primary Data


Shamir's Lab Home Page

for comments or questions: amos@post.tau.ac.il

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