Project description:Fertility depends, in part, on interactions between male and female reproductive proteins inside the female reproductive tract (FRT) that mediate postmating changes in female behavior, morphology, and physiology. Coevolution between interacting proteins within species may drive reproductive incompatibilities between species, yet the mechanisms underlying postmating-prezygotic isolating barriers remain poorly resolved. Here, we used quantitative proteomics in sibling Drosophila species to investigate the molecular composition of the FRT environment and its role in mediating species-specific postmating responses. We found that (1) FRT proteomes in D. simulans and D. mauritiana virgin females express unique combinations of secreted proteins and are enriched for distinct functional categories, (2) mating induces substantial changes to the FRT proteome in D. mauritiana but not in D. simulans, and (3) the D. simulans FRT proteome exhibits limited postmating changes irrespective of whether females mate with conspecific or heterospecific males, suggesting an active female role in mediating reproductive interactions. Our study suggests that divergence in the FRT extracellular environment and postmating response contribute to previously described patterns of postmating-prezygotic isolation and the maintenance of species boundaries.
Project description:Fertility depends on the coordination of complex interactions between male and female reproductive proteins inside the female reproductive tract (FRT). These interactions mediate a suite of changes in female behavior, morphology, and physiology after mating, yet little is known about how the molecular environment of the FRT may differ among species and coordinate species-specific female post-mating responses. We used semi-quantitative proteomics to compare the FRT protein composition between virgin and mated females in Drosophila melanogaster. These results are compared to those from quantitative TMT proteomic analyses of the mating-induced changes in D. simulans and D. mauritiana, and after conspecific and heterospecific inseminations. Our study highlights the value of using quantitative proteomics approaches to study the molecular composition of the FRT environment, and how its divergence may inform mechanistic studies of post-mating pre-zygotic reproductive isolation between species.
Project description:We sequenced dissected ovaries and testes (with reproductive tracts) as well as female and male carcasses in two species of Drosophila in order to validate gene predictions from the ModENCODE project. Comparison of dissected reproductive tracts and remaining carcasses between D. simulans and D. pseudoobscura
Project description:Curration of small RNAs from four melanogaster-subgroup species (Drosophila simulans, Drosophila sechellia, Drosophila erecta, and Drosophila yakuba) for the purpose of non-coding RNA annotation and comparative genomics assessment.
Project description:We used DamID-seq to analyze the genome-wide binding patterns of the group B Sox proteins Dichaete and SoxNeuro in four species of Drosophila: D. melanogaster, D. simulans, D. yakuba and D. pseudoobscura. Both binding site turnover between species and a comparison of the binding properties of the two partially-redundant transcription factors were analyzed. We found that, despite widespread turnover, genomic intervals that are commonly bound by both Dichaete and SoxNeuro are highly conserved in Drosophila. DamID for Dichaete (Dichaete-Dam) was performed in D. melanogaster, D. simulans, D. yakuba and D. pseudoobscura, while DamID for SoxNeuro (SoxN-Dam) was performed in D. melanogaster and D. simulans. The control experiment, Dam-only, was performed in all species. Three biological replicates were sequenced for each condition in each species.
Project description:This is a dataset which comprises the following two different kinds of genomic data in Drosophila species: First, triplicate ChIP-seq data of CTCF (CCCTC binding factor) binding profiles in each of the four closely related Drosophila species : Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans, Drosophila yakuba and Drosophila pseudoobscura at white pre pupa stage; Second, triplicate RNA-seq data of white pre pupa whole animals of three Drosophila species: Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans and Drosophila yakub. The binding site/region/peaks are called using a modified method of QuEST( please see details in our related publication). The sequence read counts and RPKM values are calculated following the method in Mortazavi et al 2008 Nature Methods paper. For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODEDataReleasePolicyFinal2008.pdf
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small, endogenous RNAs that regulate the expression of mRNAs posttranscriptionally. Evolutionarily new miRNAs, like new protein-coding genes, are dominantly expressed in reproductive organs. To dissect the evolutionary dynamics of new miRNAs in Drosophila spp, we sequenced small RNAs from two species of Drosophila, including four samples from reproductive organs and one sample from imaginal discs / CNS. miRNA expression profile shows vast majority of new miRNAs are specifically expressed in testes and/or ovaries, suggesting a role of sexual selection for new miRNA evolution. Five small RNA samples, mainly from reproductive organs of D. simulans and D. pseudoobscura were analyzed. The small RNAs were sequenced by Illumina HiSeq 2000. After triming the adapters, the 18-30 nt sequences were extracted for further study.
Project description:We identified 6,975 insertion/deletion events of between 10 and 100 bp in length from the Drosophila simulans and Drosophila sechellia Mercator/MAVID genomic sequence alignment. Replicate pure samples of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila sechellia gDNA were competitively hybridized to measure the expected relative hybridization intensity of alleles from each species. We used these measured intensities to assess the likelihood that the hybridization signal at each probe in an experimental animal reflected homozygosity or heterozygosity at that locus.
Project description:Co-expression of genes that physically cluster together is a common characteristic of eukaryotic transcriptomes. Identifying these groups of co-expressed genes is important to the functional annotation of genomes and understanding the evolutionary fates of the clustered genes. We used microarrays to measure gene expression in seven closely related Drosophila species, to identify domains clusters within a species of Drosophila (D. simulans) and that are evolving among species in the D. melanogater subgroup. Keywords: species comparison