Weak Polygenic Selection Drives the Rapid Adaptation of the Chemosensory System: Lessons from the Upstream Regions of the Major Gene Families.

ABSTRACT: The animal chemosensory system is involved in essential biological processes, most of them mediated by proteins encoded in multigene families. These multigene families have been fundamental for the adaptation to new environments, significantly contributing to phenotypic variation. This adaptive potential contrasts, however, with the lack of studies at their upstream regions, especially taking into account the evidence linking their transcriptional changes to certain phenotypic effects. Here, we explicitly characterize the contribution of the upstream sequences of the major chemosensory gene families to rapid adaptive processes. For that, we analyze the genome sequences of 158 lines from a population of Drosophila melanogaster that recently colonized North America, and integrate functional

SUBMITTER: Librado P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5010915 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature