Fig. 6

Dynamic GbM is associated with increased gene expression plasticity. A Boxplots showing the coefficient of variation and Fano factor of expression levels for all genes, Stable GbM, and Dynamic GbM genes across development and B diverse physiological stress conditions. Horizontal lines = median, box = interquartile range, whiskers = 5th and 95th percentile. ***p =  < 0.0005, **p =  < 0.005, *p =  < 0.05. C (two-tailed t-test) Schematic showing the proposed impact of Stable and Dynamic GbM on gene expression plasticity, represented as Waddington’s landscape. Stable GbM genes exhibit low variance, suggesting canalization into a single, robust gene expression state. Dynamic GbM genes exhibit high variance, suggesting the capacity to access multiple possible gene expression states. D Proportion of Dynamic and Stable GbM genes in high and low expression deciles in WT and drdd mutants. Standard deviation of Dynamic and Stable genes is represented by asterisks. F denotes an F-test for equality of variance (Dynamic GbM p =  < 0.0001, Stable GbM p = 0.1). E Scatterplot showing log2 fold change in expression of Dynamic GbM genes between leaves vs other tissues in WT (x-axis) compared to log2 fold change between WT and drdd leaves. Loss of gene expression plasticity is predicted to confer a significant inverse relationship. F Scatterplot comparing equivalent fold change values for a control set of Stable GbM genes. R², p-value and line of best fit from linear regression model