Fitness differences due to allelic variation at Esterase-4 locus in Drosophila ananassae

Intra- and interspecific comparison of protein polymorphism to establish genetic differentiation in two sympatric species of Drosophila: D. bipectinata and D. malerkotliana

Drosophila bipectinata species complex includes four monophyletic closely related sympatric species with perfect reproductive isolation in natural conditions. Among these, two species, i.e., D. bipectinata and D. malerkotliana are known to be more prevalent in their occurrence all along their distribution area of Oriental-Australian regions. Genetic characteristics of these two species have been studied by earlier researchers mainly by focusing on their chromosomal polymorphism to gain knowledge pertaining to their evolutionary trend. The present work is one step farther, as we considered isozyme variants of three polymorphic enzymes to envisage genetic differentiation among the different natural populations of these two species, along with, a comparative perusal of their certain population genetic parameters. Natural populations of these two species were sampled from eight places aligned on the north-south axis of India and were subjected to isozyme analysis. The collection of both species and the geographical locations were kept same to avoid the effect of temporal or seasonal factors on the distribution of their allelic frequency. The results of this study clearly indicate that there is intraspecific genetic structuring among the populations of both the species with a distinct steady increase in the level of heterozygosity from north to south. The evolutionary tree in the form of dendrogram depicts two genetically differentiated groups of natural populations, one for north and other for South India. Most essential aspect that has been noticed through this study is the evolutionary trend of these two sympatric species being largely similar all along the north-south axis of India.

Latrophilin mediates insecticides susceptibility and fecundity through two carboxylesterases, esterase4 and esterase6, in Tribolium castaneum

Latrophilin (LPH) is known as an adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor which involved in multiple physiological processes in organisms. Previous studies showed that lph not only involved the susceptibility to anticholinesterase insecticides but also affected fecundity in Tribolium castaneum. However, its regulatory mechanisms in these biological processes are still not clear. Here, we identified two potential downstream carboxylesterase (cce) genes of Tclph, esterase4 and esterase6, and further characterized their interactions with Tclph. After treatment of T. castaneum larvae with carbofuran or dichlorvos insecticides, the transcript levels of Tcest4 and Tcest6 were significantly induced from 12 to 72 h. RNAi against Tcest4 or Tcest6 led to the higher mortality compared with the controls after the insecticides treatment, suggesting that these two genes play a vital role in detoxification of insecticides in T. castaneum. Furthermore, with insecticides exposure to Tclph knockdown beetles, the expression of Tcest4 was upregulated but Tcest6 was downregulated, indicating that beetles existed a compensatory response against the insecticides. Additionally, RNAi of Tcest6 resulted in 43% reductions in female egg laying and completely inhibited egg hatching, which showed the similar phenotype as that of Tclph knockdown. These results indicated that Tclph affected fecundity by positively regulating Tcest6 expression. Our findings will provide a new insight into the molecular mechanisms of Tclph involved in physiological functions in T. castaneum.