| Regulation of gene expression plays a vital role in virtually every biological process. Mutations on gene regulatory network could generate expression and phenotypic variations, serving as fodder for natural selection. To understand the genetic basis of morphological evolution, I conducted genome wide comparative studies on a highly conserved insulator protein CTCF and a recently duplicated gene Zeus. The genome wide protein-DNA interaction of CTCF has greatly diverged with frequent birth of new binding events in Drosophila genomes. Such divergence of binding is correlated with gene expression divergence and new gene origination. In the case of Zeus, the protein of the newborn shows distinct binding patterns and downstream regulatory targets from its parental copy Caf40, suggesting the assembly of a novel male fertility related regulatory sub-network. Both cases of regulatory evolution appear to be driven by Darwinian selection. |
