Synexpression groups in eukaryotes

In 1960, Jacob and Monod described the bacterial operon, a cluster of funct ionally interacting genes whose expression is tightly coordinated. Global e xpression analysis has shown that the highly coordinate expression of genes functioning in common processes is also a widespread phenomenon in eukaryo tes. These sets of co-regulated genes, or 'synexpression groups', show a st riking parallel to the operon, and may be a key determinant facilitating ev olutionary change reading to animal diversity.