Chapter category: Gene Expression
Phenotype and Stochastic Gene Expression: Can the Noise Cause Haploinsufficiency?
The Biology of Genetic Dominance
Edited by: Reiner A. VeitiaISBN: 1-58706-288-7
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Chapter authors:
Anthony N. Gerber, D.L. Cook and S.J. Tapscott
Growing evidence suggests that genes are not expressed at steady state levels, but instead, gene transcription has a stochastic component. We review recent literature concerning stochastic gene expression and discuss our model in which allele copy number influenced the probability that the product level of a gene will fall below a critical level in an individual cell over time. In this model, loss of a single allele caused auto-regulated genes to be permanently inactivated. Implications for haploinsufficent phenotypes and redundant gene families are discussed. Specific genes that have been associated with haploinsufficiency are considered in the context of emerging studies and models of stochastic gene expression.
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