Abstract
In 1960, Jacob and Monod described the bacterial operon, a cluster of functionally interacting genes whose expression is tightly coordinated. Global expression analysis has shown that the highly coordinate expression of genes functioning in common processes is also a widespread phenomenon in eukaryotes. These sets of co-regulated genes, or âsynexpression groupsâ, show a striking parallel to the operon, and may be a key determinant facilitating evolutionary change leading to animal diversity.
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We thank D. Duboule and W. Pyerin for critical reading of the manuscript.
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Niehrs, C., Pollet, N. Synexpression groups in eukaryotes. Nature 402, 483â487 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/990025
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/990025
