Article,
Modularity, criticality and evolvability of a developmental gene regulatory network
bioRxiv, (2018)
DOI: 10.1101/413211
Abstract
For us to understand complex regulatory networks and their evolution, they must be modular, at least to some degree. Only modular networks can be partitioned into tractable subcircuits, able to evolve without causing detrimental pleiotropic effects. Traditionally, functional modularity is approximated by detection of modularity in the regulatory structure of a network. However, the correlation between structure and function is loose, and many networks show modular behaviour without evident structural modularity. Here, we partition an experimentally tractable regulatory network---the gap gene system of dipteran insects---using an alternative approach, which transcends these limitations. We show that the gap gene system is composed of dynamical modules, each driving a different aspect of the behaviour of the whole network. All these subcircuits share the same regulatory structure, but differ in components and their sensitivity to changes in regulatory interactions, which explains the differential evolvability of expression features of the system.
