Dataset Information

An analysis of genetic changes during the divergence of Drosophila species.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It has been long appreciated that speciation involves changes in body plans and establishes genetic, reproductive, developmental and behavioral incompatibilities between populations. However, little is still known about the genetic components involved in these changes or the sequence and scale of events that lead to the differentiation of species.

Principal findings

In this paper, we investigated the genetic changes in three closely related species of Drosophila by making pair-wise comparisons of their genomes. We focused our analysis on the modern relatives of the alleles likely to be segregating in pre-historic populations at the time or after the ancestor of D. simulans became separated from the ancestor of D. melanogaster. Some of these genes were previously implicated in the genetics of reproduction and behavior while the biological functions of others are not yet clear.

Conclusions

Together these results identify different classes of genes that might have participated in the beginning of segregation of these species millions of years ago in Africa.

SUBMITTER: Sousa-Neves R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2864749 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

An analysis of genetic changes during the divergence of Drosophila species.

Sousa-Neves Rui R Rosas Alexandre A

PloS one 20100505 5

<h4>Background</h4>It has been long appreciated that speciation involves changes in body plans and establishes genetic, reproductive, developmental and behavioral incompatibilities between populations. However, little is still known about the genetic components involved in these changes or the sequence and scale of events that lead to the differentiation of species.<h4>Principal findings</h4>In this paper, we investigated the genetic changes in three closely related species of Drosophila by maki ...[more]

PMID: 20463966

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Project description:Neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific embryonic progenitor cell population at the basis of important vertebrate features such as the craniofacial skeleton and pigmentation patterns. Despite the wide-ranging variation of NC-derived traits across vertebrates, the contribution of NC to species diversification remains underexplored. Here, leveraging the adaptive diversity of African Great Lakes' cichlid species, we combined comparative transcriptomics and population genomics to investigate the evolution of the NC genetic program in the context of their morphological divergence. Our analysis revealed substantial differences in transcriptional landscapes across somitogenesis, an embryonic period coinciding with NC development and migration. This included dozens of genes with described functions in the vertebrate NC gene regulatory network, several of which showed signatures of positive selection. Among candidates showing between-species expression divergence, we focused on teleost-specific paralogs of the NC-specifier sox10 (sox10a and sox10b) as prime candidates to influence NC development. These genes, expressed in NC cells, displayed remarkable spatio-temporal variation in cichlids, suggesting their contribution to interspecific morphological differences, such as craniofacial structures and pigmentation. Finally, through CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis, we demonstrated the functional divergence between cichlid sox10 paralogs, with the acquisition of a novel skeletogenic function by sox10a. When compared with teleost models zebrafish and medaka, our findings reveal that sox10 duplication, although retained in most teleost lineages, had variable functional fates across their phylogeny. Altogether, our study suggests that NC-related processes—particularly those controlled by sox10s—are involved in generating morphological diversification between species and lays the groundwork for further investigations into the mechanisms underpinning vertebrate NC diversification.

Dataset Information

An analysis of genetic changes during the divergence of Drosophila species.

Background

Principal findings

Conclusions

Publications

An analysis of genetic changes during the divergence of Drosophila species.

Similar Datasets

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