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Comment
. 2006 Aug 22;103(34):12659-60.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0605675103. Epub 2006 Aug 14.

Single gene control of a complex phenotype hangs in the balance

Affiliations
Comment

Single gene control of a complex phenotype hangs in the balance

Christina M Hull. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Integrated model of WOR1-controlled switching. In white a or α cells there is little Wor1 protein (blue circles) produced, causing the cells to remain in the white phase. In a rare, random event, the protein levels increase, activate more WOR1 expression (big green arrows) in an autoregulatory feedback loop, and cause a switch to the opaque phase (approximately once per 10,000 generations). Subsequent generations are primarily in the opaque phase because enough protein is inherited to sustain high-level expression of WOR1. However, rare, random events in which the Wor1 protein levels drop below a critical threshold lead to low levels of WOR1 expression (small gray arrows) and the production of white cells in the population. Changing concentrations of Wor1 tip the balance between two states in a bistable mechanism of control. Adapted from Zordan et al. (2).

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