A test of the coordinated expression hypothesis for the origin and maintenance of the GAL cluster in yeast. Author Gregory Lang, David Botstein Publication Year 2011 Type Journal Article Abstract Metabolic gene clusters--functionally related and physically clustered genes--are a common feature of some eukaryotic genomes. Two hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origin and maintenance of metabolic gene clusters: coordinated gene expression and genetic linkage. Here we test the hypothesis that selection for coordinated gene expression underlies the clustering of GAL genes in the yeast genome. We find that, although clustering coordinates the expression of GAL1 and GAL10, disrupting the GAL cluster does not impair fitness, suggesting that other mechanisms, such as genetic linkage, drive the origin and maintenance metabolic gene clusters. Keywords Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Trans-Activators, Multigene Family, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins, Galactokinase Journal PLoS One Volume 6 Issue 9 Pages e25290 Alternate Journal PLoS ONE Google ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML