ArticleBMC research notes2011
The plausible reason why the length of 5' untranslated region is unrelated to organismal complexity.
Article in BMC research notes, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- An information content principle explains regulatory patterns of gene expression across human tissues.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Comprehensive mapping of the 5' and 3' untranslated regions ofRNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- The patterns of alternative TSS usage explain the highly heterogeneous landscape of 5'UTR lengths in eukaryotes.NAR genomics and bioinformatics · 2025Article
- Genome-Wide Identification of the CBF Gene Family and ICE Transcription Factors in Walnuts and Expression Profiles under Cold Conditions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Transcriptome Analyses Show Changes in Gene Expression Triggered by a 31-bp InDel withinInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- A non-coding variant in the Kozak sequence of RARS2 strongly decreases protein levels and causes pontocerebellar hypoplasia.BMC medical genomics · 2023Article
- An expanded toolkit foreLife · 2022Article
- 5' Untranslated Region Elements Show High Abundance and Great Variability in Homologous ABCA Subfamily Genes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Article
- So close, no matter how far: multiple paths connecting transcription to mRNA translation in eukaryotes.EMBO reports · 2020Review
- Article
- Evidence for a Strong Correlation Between Transcription Factor Protein Disorder and Organismic Complexity.Genome biology and evolution · 2017Article
- Correcting for differential transcript coverage reveals a strong relationship between alternative splicing and organism complexity.Molecular biology and evolution · 2014Article
- Article
- Selective constraint on the upstream open reading frames that overlap with coding sequences in animals.PloS one · 2012Article
- Translational Control of Serrate Expression in Drosophila Cells.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOrganismal complexity is suggested to increase with the complexity of transcriptional and translational regulations. Supporting this notion is a recent study that demonstrated a higher level of tissue-specific gene expression in human than in mouse. However, whether this correlation can be extended beyond mammals remains unclear. In addition, 5' untranslated regions (5'UTRs), which have undergone stochastic elongation during evolution and potentially included an increased number of regulatory elements, may have played an important role in the emergence of organismal complexity. Although the lack of correlation between 5'UTR length and organismal complexity has been proposed, the underlying mechanisms remain unexplored.
resultsIn this study, we select the number of cell types as the measurement of organismal complexity and examine the correlation between (1) organismal complexity and transcriptional regulatory complexity; and (2) organismal complexity and 5'UTR length by comparing the 5'UTRs and multiple-tissue expression profiles of human (Homo sapiens), mouse (Mus musculus), and fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). The transcriptional regulatory complexity is measured by using the tissue specificity of gene expression and the ratio of non-constitutively expressed to constitutively expressed genes. We demonstrate that, whereas correlation (1) holds well in the three-way comparison, correlation (2) is not true. Results from a larger dataset that includes more than 15 species, ranging from yeast to human, also reject correlation (2). The reason for the failure of correlation (2) may be ascribed to: Firstly, longer 5'UTRs do not contribute to increased tissue specificity of gene expression. Secondly, the increased numbers of common translational regulatory elements in longer 5'UTRs do not lead to increased organismal complexity.
conclusionsOur study has extended the evidence base for the correlation between organismal complexity and transcriptional regulatory complexity from mammals to fruit fly, the representative model organism of invertebrates. Furthermore, our results suggest that the elongation of 5'UTRs alone can not lead to the increase in regulatory complexity or the emergence of organismal complexity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.