RNA-Interference Pathways Display High Rates of Adaptive Protein Evolution in Multiple Invertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Conflict between organisms can lead to a reciprocal adaptation that manifests as an increased evolutionary rate in genes mediating the conflict. This adaptive signature has been observed in RNA-interference (RNAi) pathway genes involved in the suppression of viruses and transposable elements in Drosophila melanogaster, suggesting that a subset of Drosophila RNAi genes may be locked in an arms race with these parasites. However, it is not known whether rapid evolution of RNAi genes is a general phenomenon across invertebrates, or which RNAi genes generally evolve adaptively. Here we use population genomic data from eight invertebrate species to infer rates of adaptive sequence evolution, and to test for past and ongoing selective sweeps in RNAi genes. We assess rates of adapti

SUBMITTER: Palmer WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5887150 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature