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Regulatory divergence in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans: a genome-wide analysis of allele-specific expression

ABSTRACT: Species-specific regulation of gene expression contributes to the development and maintenance of reproductive isolation and to species differences in ecologically important traits. A better understanding of the evolutionary forces which shape regulatory variation and divergence can be developed by comparing expression differences among species and interspecific hybrids. Once expression differences are identified, the underlying genetics of regulatory variation or divergence can be explored. With the goal of associating cis and/or trans components of regulatory divergence with differences in gene expression, overall and allele-specific expression levels were assayed genome-wide in female adult heads of D. melanogaster, D. simulans and their F1 hybrids. A greater proportion of cis differences than trans differences were identified for genes expressed in heads and, in accordance with previous studies, cis differences also explained a larger number of species differences in overall expression level. Regulatory divergence was found to be prevalent among genes associated with defense, olfaction, and among genes downstream of the Drosophila sex determination hierarchy. In addition, two genes, with critical roles in sex determination and micro RNA processing, Sxl and loqs, were identified as misexpressed in hybrid female heads, potentially contributing to hybrid incompatibility.

OTHER RELATED OMICS DATASETS IN: PRJNA118723

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila simulans Drosophila sp. (in: flies) Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE17453 | GEO | 2009/08/05

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA118723

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Changes in gene regulation rapidly accumulate between species and may contribute to reproductive isolation through misexpression of genes in interspecific hybrids. Hybrid misexpression, defined by expression levels outside the range of both parental species, is thought to be a result of cis- and trans-acting regulatory changes that interact in the hybrid, or arise from changes in the relative abundance of various tissues or cell types due to defects in developmental. Here, we show that misexpressed genes in a sterile interspecific Saccharomyces yeast hybrid result from a heterochronic shift in the timing of the normal meiotic gene expression program. By tracking nuclear divisions, we find that S. cerevisiae initiates meiosis earlier than its closest known relative, S. paradoxus, yet both species complete meiosis at the same time. Although the hybrid up- and down-regulates genes in a similar manner to both parents, the hybrid meiotic program occurs earlier than both parents. The timing shift results in a heterochronic pattern of misexpression throughout meiosis I and the beginning of meiosis II. Coincident with the timing of misexpression, we find an increase in the relative abundance of opposing cis and trans-acting changes and compensatory changes, as well as a transition from predominantly trans-acting to cis-acting expression divergence over the course of meiosis. However, misexpression does not appear to be a direct consequence of cis- and trans-acting regulatory divergence. Our results demonstrate that hybrid misexpression in yeast results from a heterochronic shift in the meiotic gene expression program. We analyzed three biological replicates of the parental yeast strains, S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus, and four replicates of their hybrid over four developmental time points. Two hybrid replicates contain MATa from S. cerevisiae and MATalpha from S. paradoxus. The other two hybrid replicates are reciprocal crosses. The developmental time points are T0, which serves as a control, and is the moment cells enter sporulation media. M1 is the beginning of meiosis I. M1/M2 is the overlap of the end of meiosis I and the beginning of meiosis II. M2 is the end of meiosis II.

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Regulatory divergence in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans: a genome-wide analysis of allele-specific expression

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