Chance and necessity in chromosomal gene distributions

TL;DR

This paper investigates gene spacing on chromosomes, revealing regulatory sequence footprints and bi-directional regulatory regions through a statistical null model inspired by one-dimensional gases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel null model for intergenic distances and uncovers bi-directional regulatory features in yeast and bacteria.

Findings

Regulatory sequences influence gene spacing patterns

Bi-directional transcriptional regions identified in S. cerevisiae

Bi-directional terminators found in E. coli

Abstract

By analyzing the spacing of genes on chromosomes, we find that transcriptional and RNA-processing regulatory sequences outside coding regions leave footprints on the distribution of intergenic distances. Using analogies between genes on chromosomes and one-dimensional gases, we constructed a statistical null model. We have used this to estimate typical upstream and downstream regulatory sequence sizes in various species. Deviations from this model reveal bi-directional transcriptional regulatory regions in S. cerevisiae and bi-directional terminators in E. coli.