Graph Polynomials Motivated by Gene Rearrangements in Ciliates

Abstract

Gene rearrangements within the process of gene assembly in ciliates can be represented using a 4-regular graph. Based on this observation, Burns et al. [Discrete Appl. Math., 2013] propose a graph polynomial abstracting basic features of the assembly process, like the number of segments excised. We show that this assembly polynomial is essentially (i) a single variable case of the transition polynomial by Jaeger and (ii) a special case of the bracket polynomial introduced for simple graphs by Traldi and Zulli.