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Drum ZA, Lanno SM, Gregory SM, Shimshak SJ, Ahamed M, Barr W, Bekele B, Biester A, Castro C, Connolly L, DelGaudio N, Humphrey W, Karimi H, Karolczak S, Lawrence TS, McCracken A, Miller-Medzon N, Murphy L, Park C, Park S, Qiu C, Serra K, Snyder G, Strauss A, Tang S, Vyzas C, Coolon JD. Genomics analysis of hexanoic acid exposure in Drosophila species. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2021; 12:6402009. [PMID: 34718544 PMCID: PMC8727985 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila sechellia is a dietary specialist endemic to the Seychelles islands that has evolved to consume the fruit of Morinda citrifolia. When ripe, the fruit of M. citrifolia contains octanoic acid and hexanoic acid, two medium-chain fatty acid volatiles that deter and are toxic to generalist insects. Drosophila sechellia has evolved resistance to these volatiles allowing it to feed almost exclusively on this host plant. The genetic basis of octanoic acid resistance has been the focus of multiple recent studies, but the mechanisms that govern hexanoic acid resistance in D. sechellia remain unknown. To understand how D. sechellia has evolved to specialize on M. citrifolia fruit and avoid the toxic effects of hexanoic acid, we exposed adult D. sechellia, D. melanogaster and D. simulans to hexanoic acid and performed RNA sequencing comparing their transcriptional responses to identify D. sechellia specific responses. Our analysis identified many more genes responding transcriptionally to hexanoic acid in the susceptible generalist species than in the specialist D. sechellia. Interrogation of the sets of differentially expressed genes showed that generalists regulated the expression of many genes involved in metabolism and detoxification whereas the specialist primarily downregulated genes involved in the innate immunity. Using these data, we have identified interesting candidate genes that may be critically important in aspects of adaptation to their food source that contains high concentrations of HA. Understanding how gene expression evolves during dietary specialization is crucial for our understanding of how ecological communities are built and how evolution shapes trophic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary A Drum
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Stephen M Lanno
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Sara M Gregory
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Serena J Shimshak
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Mukshud Ahamed
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Will Barr
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Bethlehem Bekele
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Alison Biester
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Colleen Castro
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Lauren Connolly
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Nicole DelGaudio
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - William Humphrey
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Helen Karimi
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Sophie Karolczak
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | | | - Andrew McCracken
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | | | - Leah Murphy
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Cameron Park
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Sojeong Park
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Chloe Qiu
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Kevin Serra
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Gigi Snyder
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Alexa Strauss
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Spencer Tang
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Christina Vyzas
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
| | - Joseph D Coolon
- Department of Biology, Wesleyan University,Middletown, CT 06457, USA
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