The Gene Balance Hypothesis postulates that there is selection on gene copy number (gene dosage) to preserve stoichiometric balance among interacting proteins. This presupposes that gene product abundance is governed by gene dosage, and that gene dosage responses are consistent for interacting genes in a dosage balance-sensitive network or complex. Gene dosage responses, however, have rarely been quantified and the available data suggest that they are highly variable. We sequenced the transcriptomes of two synthetic autopolyploid accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana and their diploid progenitors, as well as one natural tetraploid and its synthetic diploid produced via haploid induction, to estimate transcriptome size and dosage responses immediately following ploidy change. Similar to what has been observed in previous studies, overall transcriptome size does not exhibit a simple doubling in response to genome doubling, and individual gene dosage responses are highly variable in all three accessions, indicating that expression is not strictly coupled with gene dosage. Nonetheless, putatively dosage balance-sensitive gene groups (GO terms, metabolic networks, gene families, and predicted interacting proteins) exhibit smaller and more coordinated dosage responses than do putatively dosage-insensitive gene groups, suggesting that constraints on dosage balance operate immediately following whole genome duplication, and that duplicate gene retention patterns are shaped by selection to preserve dosage balance.

基因平衡假说假设在基因拷贝数（基因剂量）上有选择，以保持相互作用蛋白之间的化学计量平衡。前提是基因产物的丰度由基因剂量决定，并且在剂量平衡敏感网络或复合物中相互作用的基因，基因剂量反应是一致的。然而，基因剂量反应很少被量化，可用数据表明它们是高度可变的。我们对拟南芥及其两个二倍体祖细胞的两个合成自多倍体登录号，一个天然四倍体及其通过单倍体诱导产生的合成二倍体的转录组进行了测序，以评估倍性变化后立即转录组的大小和剂量响应。与以前的研究相似，总体转录组大小没有显示出对基因组加倍的简单加倍，并且在所有三个种质中单个基因剂量的反应都高度可变，这表明表达与基因剂量并不严格相关。但是，假定剂量平衡敏感的基因组（GO术语，代谢网络，基因家族和预测的相互作用蛋白）显示出比假定剂量敏感的基因组更小，更协调的剂量反应，这表明对剂量平衡的约束在整个代谢后立即起作用基因组重复和重复的基因保留模式通过选择来塑造，以保持剂量平衡。表明表达并不严格与基因剂量有关。但是，假定剂量平衡敏感的基因组（GO术语，代谢网络，基因家族和预测的相互作用蛋白）显示出比假定剂量敏感的基因组更小，更协调的剂量反应，这表明对剂量平衡的约束在整个代谢后立即起作用基因组重复和重复的基因保留模式通过选择来塑造，以保持剂量平衡。表明表达并不严格与基因剂量有关。但是，假定剂量平衡敏感的基因组（GO术语，代谢网络，基因家族和预测的相互作用蛋白）显示出比假定剂量敏感的基因组更小，更协调的剂量反应，这表明对剂量平衡的限制在整个摄入后立即起作用基因组重复和重复的基因保留模式通过选择来塑造，以保持剂量平衡。