Survey of Global Genetic Diversity Within the Drosophila Immune System.

ABSTRACT: Numerous studies across a wide range of taxa have demonstrated that immune genes are routinely among the most rapidly evolving genes in the genome. This observation, however, does not address what proportion of immune genes undergo strong selection during adaptation to novel environments. Here, we determine the extent of very recent divergence in genes with immune function across five populations of Drosophila melanogaster and find that immune genes do not show an overall trend of recent rapid adaptation. Our population-based approach uses a set of carefully matched control genes to account for the effects of demography and local recombination rate, allowing us to identify whether specific immune functions are putative targets of strong selection. We find evidence that viral-defense genes

SUBMITTER: Early AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5223513 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature