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Recent genome-wide association studies have identified many genes associated with metabolic disorders. However, systems-biology approaches could give improved insights into the complex involvement of genetic and environmental factors.
MicroRNAs exert their regulatory effects by potently repressing some targets, fine-tuning other targets or coordinately regulating target batteries. MicroRNA-mediated control can also be reversible. These regulatory themes underlie the exploitation of microRNA control in diverse biological circuits.
Histone mRNAs, the only cellular mRNAs that are not polyadenylated, end in a conserved stem–loop that performs the functions of the poly(A) tail in mRNA metabolism and that is required for cell-cycle regulation and regulating the balance of the production of variant and canonical histones.
Epistasis is fundamental to the structure and function of genetic pathways and to the evolutionary dynamics of complex genetic systems. High-throughput functional genomics, systems-level approaches and advances in molecular evolution are spurring renewed interest in understanding and quantifying epistatic interactions.
The recent advent of cell type molecular fingerprinting has yielded initial insights into the evolutionary interrelationships of cell types between remote animal phyla, allowing the definition of some key principles of cell type diversification in animal evolution.
Current approaches for dissecting complex traits largely ignore epiallelic variation. To overcome this limitation the authors propose a quantitative approach to identifying the dynamic interplay between DNA sequence, chromatin and environmental contributions to the phenotype, across generations and developmental time points.
