Evidence is accumulating that the position of a gene in a pathway or network influences the rate at which that gene evolves.  For example, in the anthocyainin biosynthetic pathway, upstream genes evolve more slowly than downstream genes.  In other pathways, adaptive substitutions appear to be concentrated at pathway branches.  

     We employ both empirical investigation and modelling to understand the evolutionary processes that create these patterns.  For more information, see the following publications:

Olson-Manning, c. F., C.-R. Lee, M. D. Rausher and T. Mitchell-

    Olds.  2013.  Evolution of flux control in the glucosinolate     pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.  Molecular Biology and

    Evolution 30: 14-23. [Download PDF File]

Rausher, M. D. 2012.  The evolution of genes in branched     metabolic pathways.  Evolution 67: 34-48. [Download PDF File]          

Wright, K. M., and M. D. Rausher. 2010. The evolution of control and distribution of adaptive mutations in a metabolic pathway. Genetics 184: 483-502.  [Download PDF file] 

 Rausher, M. D., Y. Lu, and K. Meyer.  2008.  Variation in constraint vs. positive selection as an explanation for evolutionary rate variation among anthocyanin genes. Journal of Molecular Evolution 67: 137-144 [Download PDF file].