The evolution of gene expression levels in mammalian organs

David Brawand, Magali Soumillon, Anamaria Necsulea, Philippe Julien, Gábor Csárdi, Patrick Harrigan, Manuela Weier, Angélica Liechti, Ayinuer Aximu-Petri, Martin Kircher, Frank W. Albert, Ulrich Zeller, Philipp Khaitovich, Frank Grützner, Sven Bergmann, Rasmus Nielsen, Svante Pääbo and Henrik Kaessmann ()
Additional contact information
David Brawand: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Magali Soumillon: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Anamaria Necsulea: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Philippe Julien: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Gábor Csárdi: Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
Patrick Harrigan: University of California
Manuela Weier: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Angélica Liechti: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne
Ayinuer Aximu-Petri: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Martin Kircher: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Frank W. Albert: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Ulrich Zeller: Chair of Systematic Zoology, Humboldt-University
Philipp Khaitovich: CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology
Frank Grützner: The Robinson Institute, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide
Sven Bergmann: Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
Rasmus Nielsen: University of California
Svante Pääbo: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Henrik Kaessmann: Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne

Nature, 2011, vol. 478, issue 7369, 343-348

Abstract: Abstract Changes in gene expression are thought to underlie many of the phenotypic differences between species. However, large-scale analyses of gene expression evolution were until recently prevented by technological limitations. Here we report the sequencing of polyadenylated RNA from six organs across ten species that represent all major mammalian lineages (placentals, marsupials and monotremes) and birds (the evolutionary outgroup), with the goal of understanding the dynamics of mammalian transcriptome evolution. We show that the rate of gene expression evolution varies among organs, lineages and chromosomes, owing to differences in selective pressures: transcriptome change was slow in nervous tissues and rapid in testes, slower in rodents than in apes and monotremes, and rapid for the X chromosome right after its formation. Although gene expression evolution in mammals was strongly shaped by purifying selection, we identify numerous potentially selectively driven expression switches, which occurred at different rates across lineages and tissues and which probably contributed to the specific organ biology of various mammals.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10532

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