Glue Genes Are Subjected to Diverse Selective Forces during Drosophila Development.

ABSTRACT: Molecular evolutionary studies usually focus on genes with clear roles in adult fitness or on developmental genes expressed at multiple time points during the life of the organism. Here, we examine the evolutionary dynamics of Drosophila glue genes, a set of eight genes tasked with a singular primary function during a specific developmental stage: the production of glue that allows animal pupa to attach to a substrate for several days during metamorphosis. Using phenotypic assays and available data from transcriptomics, PacBio genomes, and sequence variation from global populations, we explore the selective forces acting on glue genes within the cosmopolitan Drosophila melanogaster species and its five closely related species, D. simulans, D. sechellia, D. mauritiana, D. yakuba, and D. tei

SUBMITTER: Borne F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8643421 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature