Fig. 1: Schematic showing specific and general buffering mechanisms.

Mutational buffering in a cell can be achieved by modifications in the regulatory region of a substrate leading to its increased expression, activation of alternate pathways or by increased expression of the binding partner for a specific substrate (top panel). However, generalized buffering of mutant phenotypes is executed by protein folding assistance through molecular chaperones or through relative composition and concentration of metabolite and resultant changes in protein thermodynamics and kinetics (bottom panel).