Description
Genetic and environmental factors influence the phenotype of an organism. Time is rarely considered when studying changes in cellular phenotype. Time-resolved microarray data revealed genome-wide transcriptional changes in cells oscillating with ~2 and ~4 h periods. We mapped the global patterns of transcriptional oscillations into a 3-dimensional map to represent different cellular phenotypes of oscillation period. This map shows the dynamic nature of transcripts through time and concentration space, and that they are ordered and coupled to each other. Although cells differed in oscillation periods, transcripts involved in certain processes were conserved in a deterministic way. This ordered timing of biological process may allow cells to grow energetically efficient. Decreased glucose levels in the media were found to increase the redox cycles of yeast strain CEN.PK113-7D. Glucose may have acted as signaling molecules for timing longer catabolic processes in the cell population. As oscillation period lengthened, the peak to trough ratio of transcripts increased and the percent of cells in the unbudded (G0/G1) phase of the cell cycle increased. Gene transcripts appear to be coordinated with metabolic functions and the cell cycle.