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Cited by 278

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Precise Developmental Gene Expression Arises from Globally Stochastic Transcriptional Activity

Open access
Little, Shawn C., Tikhonov, Mikhail, Gregor, Thomas·2013·Cell

Abstract

SUMMARY Early embryonic patterning events are strikingly precise. The underlying molecular details are elusive and appear incompatible with stochastic gene expression observed across phyla. Using single molecule mRNA quantification in Drosophila embryos, we determine the magnitude of fluctuations in the expression of four critical patterning genes. The accumulation of mRNAs is identical across genes and fluctuates by ~8% between neighboring nuclei to generate precise protein distributions. In contrast, transcribing loci exhibit an intrinsic noise of ~45% independent of specific promoter-enhancer architecture or fluctuating inputs. The embryo recovers precise transcript distribution through straightforward spatiotemporal averaging without regulatory feedback. The common expression characteristics shared between genes suggest that the noise of fundamental physical constraints dominates the fluctuations of immediate transcriptional readout.

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Metadata

Authors
Little, S. C., Tikhonov, M., & Gregor, T.
Venue
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-08
Volume
154
Issue
4
Pages
789-800
ISSN
0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2065923714
Cited by
278
References
10
FWCI
11.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Precise Developmental Gene Expression Arises from Globally Stochastic Transcriptional Activity. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.cell.2013.07.025
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Little, S. C., Tikhonov, M., & Gregor, T. (2013). Precise Developmental Gene Expression Arises from Globally Stochastic Transcriptional Activity. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2013.07.025

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