Determination of Temporal Order among the Components of an Oscillatory System

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 7;10(7):e0124842. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124842. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Oscillatory systems in biology are tightly regulated process where the individual components (e.g. genes) express in an orderly manner by virtue of their functions. The temporal order among the components of an oscillatory system may potentially be disrupted for various reasons (e.g. environmental factors). As a result some components of the system may go out of order or even cease to participate in the oscillatory process. In this article, we develop a novel framework to evaluate whether the temporal order is unchanged in different populations (or experimental conditions). We also develop methodology to estimate the order among the components with a suitable notion of "confidence." Using publicly available data on S. pombe, S. cerevisiae and Homo sapiens we discover that the temporal order among the genes cdc18; mik1; hhf1; hta2; fkh2 and klp5 is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to humans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Biological Clocks / genetics*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / genetics
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Humans
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism
  • Schizosaccharomyces / genetics
  • Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins / genetics
  • Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins
  • Transcription Factors