Quantitative trait loci responsible for variation in sexually dimorphic traits in Drosophila melanogaster

Genetic basis of variation in thermal developmental plasticity for Drosophila melanogaster body pigmentation

Seasonal differences in insect pigmentation are attributed to the influence of ambient temperature on pigmentation development. This thermal plasticity is adaptive and heritable, and thereby capable of evolving. However, the specific genes contributing to the variation in plasticity that can drive its evolution remain largely unknown. To address this, we analysed pigmentation and pigmentation plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster. We measured two components of pigmentation in the thorax and abdomen: overall darkness and the proportion of length covered by darker pattern elements (a trident in the thorax and bands in the abdomen) in females from two developmental temperatures (17 or 28°C) and 191 genotypes. Using a GWAS approach to identify the genetic basis of variation in pigmentation and its response to temperature, we identified numerous dispersed QTLs, including some mapping to melanogenesis genes (yellow, ebony, and tan). Remarkably, we observed limited overlap between QTLs for variation within specific temperatures and those influencing thermal plasticity, as well as minimal overlap between plasticity QTLs across pigmentation components and across body parts. For most traits, consistent with selection favouring the retention of plasticity, we found that lower plasticity alleles were often at lower frequencies. The functional analysis of selected candidate QTLs and pigmentation genes largely confirmed their contributions to variation in pigmentation and/or pigmentation plasticity. Overall, our study reveals the existence and underlying basis of extensive and trait-specific genetic variation for pigmentation and pigmentation plasticity, offering a rich reservoir of raw material for natural selection to shape the evolution of these traits independently.

Regulatory evolution tuning pigmentation intensity quantitatively in Drosophila

Quantitative variation in attributes such as color, texture, or stiffness dominates morphological diversification. It results from combinations of alleles at many Mendelian loci. Here, we identify an additional source of quantitative variation among species, continuous evolution in a gene regulatory region. Specifically, we examined the modulation of wing pigmentation in a group of fly species and showed that inter-species variation correlated with the quantitative expression of the pigmentation gene yellow. This variation results from an enhancer of yellow determining darkness through species-specific activity. We mapped the divergent activities between two sister species and found the changes to be broadly distributed along the enhancer. Our results demonstrate that enhancers can act as dials fueling quantitative morphological diversification by modulating trait properties.

Genetics of yellow-orange color variation in a pair of sympatric sulphur butterflies

Continuous color polymorphisms can serve as a tractable model for the genetic and developmental architecture of traits. Here we investigated continuous color variation in Colias eurytheme and Colias philodice, two species of sulphur butterflies that hybridize in sympatry. Using quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis and high-throughput color quantification, we found two interacting large-effect loci affecting orange-to-yellow chromaticity. Knockouts of red Malpighian tubules (red), likely involved in endosomal maturation, result in depigmented wing scales. Additionally, the transcription factor bric-a-brac can act as a modulator of orange pigmentation. We also describe the QTL architecture of other continuously varying traits, together supporting a large-X effect model where the genetic control of species-defining traits is enriched on sex chromosomes. This study sheds light on the range of possible genetic architectures that can underpin a continuously varying trait and illustrates the power of using automated measurement to score phenotypes that are not always conspicuous to the human eye.

Interplay between sex determination cascade and major signaling pathways during Drosophila eye development: Perspectives for future research

Understanding molecular mechanisms of sexually dimorphic organ growth is a fundamental problem of developmental biology. Recent quantitative studies showed that the Drosophila compound eye is a convenient model to study the determination of the final organ size. In Drosophila, females have larger eyes than males and this is evident even after correction for the larger body size. Moreover, female eyes include more ommatidia (photosensitive units) than male eyes and this difference is specified at the third larval instar in the eye primordia called eye imaginal discs. This may result in different visual capabilities between the two sexes and have behavioral consequences. Despite growing evidence on the genetic bases of eye size variation between different Drosophila species and strains, mechanisms responsible for within-species sexual dimorphism still remain elusive. Here, we discuss a presumptive crosstalk between the sex determination cascade and major signaling pathways during dimorphic eye development. Male- and female-specific isoforms of Doublesex (Dsx) protein are known to control sex-specific differentiation in the somatic tissues. However, no data on Dsx function during eye disc growth and patterning are currently available. Remarkably, Sex lethal (Sxl), the sex determination switch protein, was shown to directly affect Hedgehog (Hh) and Notch (N) signaling in the Drosophila wing disc. The similarity of signaling pathways involved in the wing and eye disc growth suggests that Sxl might be integrated into regulation of eye development. Dsx role in the eye disc requires further investigation. We discuss currently available data on sex-biased gene expression in the Drosophila eye and highlight perspectives for future studies.

Redundant and Cryptic Enhancer Activities of the Drosophila yellow Gene

Cis-regulatory sequences known as enhancers play a key role in regulating gene expression. Evolutionary changes in these DNA sequences contribute to phenotypic evolution. The Drosophila yellow gene, which is required for pigmentation, has emerged as a model system for understanding how cis-regulatory sequences evolve, providing some of the most detailed insights available into how activities of orthologous enhancers have diverged between species. Here, we examine the evolution of yellow cis-regulatory sequences on a broader scale, by comparing the distribution and function of yellow enhancer activities throughout the 5' intergenic and intronic sequences of Drosophila melanogaster, D. pseudoobscura, and D. willistoni We find that cis-regulatory sequences driving expression in a particular tissue are not as modular as previously described, but rather have many redundant and cryptic enhancer activities distributed throughout the regions surveyed. Interestingly, cryptic enhancer activities of sequences from one species often drove patterns of expression observed in other species, suggesting that the frequent evolutionary changes in yellow expression observed among Drosophila species may be facilitated by gaining and losing repression of preexisting cis-regulatory sequences.

bric à brac (bab), a central player in the gene regulatory network that mediates thermal plasticity of pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila body pigmentation has emerged as a major Evo-Devo model. Using two Drosophila melanogaster lines, Dark and Pale, selected from a natural population, we analyse here the interaction between genetic variation and environmental factors to produce this complex trait. Indeed, pigmentation varies with genotype in natural populations and is sensitive to temperature during development. We demonstrate that the bric à brac (bab) genes, that are differentially expressed between the two lines and whose expression levels vary with temperature, participate in the pigmentation difference between the Dark and Pale lines. The two lines differ in a bab regulatory sequence, the dimorphic element (called here bDE). Both bDE alleles are temperature-sensitive, but the activity of the bDE allele from the Dark line is lower than that of the bDE allele from the Pale line. Our results suggest that this difference could partly be due to differential regulation by AbdB. bab has been previously reported to be a repressor of abdominal pigmentation. We show here that one of its targets in this process is the pigmentation gene tan (t), regulated via the tan abdominal enhancer (t_MSE). Furthermore, t expression is strongly modulated by temperature in the two lines. Thus, temperature sensitivity of t expression is at least partly a consequence of bab thermal transcriptional plasticity. We therefore propose that a gene regulatory network integrating both genetic variation and temperature sensitivity modulates female abdominal pigmentation. Interestingly, both bDE and t_MSE were previously shown to have been recurrently involved in abdominal pigmentation evolution in drosophilids. We propose that the environmental sensitivity of these enhancers has turned them into evolutionary hotspots.

Complex traits such as size or disease susceptibility are typically modulated by both genetic variation and environmental conditions. Model organisms such as fruit flies (Drosophila) are particularly appropriate to analyse the interactions between genetic variation and environmental factors during the development of complex phenotypes. Natural populations carry high genetic variation and can be grown in controlled conditions in the laboratory. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster female abdominal pigmentation, which is both genetically variable and modulated by the environment (temperature) to dissect this kind of interaction. We show that the pigmentation difference between two inbred fly lines is caused by genetic variation in an enhancer of the bab locus, which encodes two transcription factors controlling abdominal pigmentation. Indeed, this enhancer drives differential expression between the two lines. Interestingly, this enhancer is sensitive to temperature in both lines. We show that the effect of bab on pigmentation is mediated by the pigmentation gene tan (t) that is repressed by bab. Thus, the previously reported temperature-sensitive expression of t is a direct consequence of bab transcriptional plasticity.

Sex and Genetic Background Influence Superoxide Dismutase (cSOD)-Related Phenotypic Variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Mutations often have drastically different effects in different genetic backgrounds; understanding a gene’s biological function then requires an understanding of its interaction with genetic diversity. The antioxidant enzyme cytosolic copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (cSOD) catalyzes the dismutation of the superoxide radical, a molecule that can induce oxidative stress if its concentration exceeds cellular control. Accordingly, Drosophila melanogaster lacking functional cSOD exhibit a suite of phenotypes including decreased longevity, hypersensitivity to oxidative stress, impaired locomotion, and reduced NADP(H) enzyme activity in males. To date, cSOD-null phenotypes have primarily been characterized using males carrying one allele, cSodⁿ¹⁰⁸red, in a single genetic background. We used ANOVA, and the effect size partial eta squared, to partition the amount of variation attributable to cSOD activity, sex, and genetic background across a series of life history, locomotor, and biochemical phenotypes associated with the cSOD-null condition. Overall, the results demonstrate that the cSOD-null syndrome is largely consistent across sex and genetic background, but also significantly influenced by both. The sex-specific effects are particularly striking and our results support the idea that phenotypes cannot be considered to be fully defined if they are examined in limited genetic contexts.

Regulation of Drosophila Lifespan by bellwether Promoter Alleles

Longevity varies among individuals, but how natural genetic variation contributes to variation in lifespan is poorly understood. Drosophila melanogaster presents an advantageous model system to explore the genetic underpinnings of longevity, since its generation time is brief and both the genetic background and rearing environment can be precisely controlled. The bellwether (blw) gene encodes the α subunit of mitochondrial ATP synthase. Since metabolic rate may influence lifespan, we investigated whether alternative haplotypes in the blw promoter affect lifespan when expressed in a co-isogenic background. We amplified 521 bp upstream promoter sequences containing alternative haplotypes and assessed promoter activity both in vitro and in vivo using a luciferase reporter system. The AG haplotype showed significantly greater expression of luciferase than the GT haplotype. We then overexpressed a blw cDNA construct driven by either the AG or GT haplotype promoter in transgenic flies and showed that the AG haplotype also results in greater blw cDNA expression and a significant decrease in lifespan relative to the GT promoter haplotype, in male flies only. Thus, our results show that naturally occurring regulatory variants of blw affect lifespan in a sex-specific manner.

Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Pigmentation is a morphologically simple but highly variable trait that often has adaptive significance. It has served extensively as a model for understanding the development and evolution of morphological phenotypes. Abdominal pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster has been particularly useful, allowing researchers to identify the loci that underlie inter- and intraspecific variations in morphology. Hitherto, however, D. melanogaster abdominal pigmentation has been largely assayed qualitatively, through scoring, rather than quantitatively, which limits the forms of statistical analysis that can be applied to pigmentation data. This work describes a new methodology that allows for the quantification of various aspects of the abdominal pigmentation pattern of adult D. melanogaster. The protocol includes specimen mounting, image capture, data extraction, and analysis. All the software used for image capture and analysis feature macros written for open-source image analysis. The advantage of this approach is the ability to precisely measure pigmentation traits using a methodology that is highly reproducible across different imaging systems. While the technique has been used to measure variation in the tergal pigmentation patterns of adult D. melanogaster, the methodology is flexible and broadly applicable to pigmentation patterns in myriad different organisms.

The large X-effect on secondary sexual characters and the genetics of variation in sex comb tooth number in Drosophila subobscura

Genetic studies of secondary sexual traits provide insights into whether and how selection drove their divergence among populations, and these studies often focus on the fraction of variation attributable to genes on the X-chromosome. However, such studies may sometimes misinterpret the amount of variation attributable to the X-chromosome if using only simple reciprocal F₁ crosses, or they may presume sexual selection has affected the observed phenotypic variation. We examined the genetics of a secondary sexual trait, male sex comb size, in Drosophila subobscura. This species bears unusually large sex combs for its species group, and therefore, this trait may be a good candidate for having been affected by natural or sexual selection. We observed significant heritable variation in number of teeth of the distal sex comb across strains. While reciprocal F₁ crosses seemed to implicate a disproportionate X-chromosome effect, further examination in the F₂ progeny showed that transgressive autosomal effects inflated the estimate of variation associated with the X-chromosome in the F₁. Instead, the X-chromosome appears to confer the smallest contribution of all major chromosomes to the observed phenotypic variation. Further, we failed to detect effects on copulation latency or duration associated with the observed phenotypic variation. Overall, this study presents an examination of the genetics underlying segregating phenotypic variation within species and illustrates two common pitfalls associated with some past studies of the genetic basis of secondary sexual traits.

Genetic basis of natural variation in body pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Body pigmentation in insects and other organisms is typically variable within and between species and is often associated with fitness. Regulatory variants with large effects at bab1, t and e affect variation in abdominal pigmentation in several populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Recently, we performed a genome wide association (GWA) analysis of variation in abdominal pigmentation using the inbred, sequenced lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP). We confirmed the large effects of regulatory variants in bab1, t and e; identified 81 additional candidate genes; and validated 17 candidate genes (out of 28 tested) using RNAi knockdown of gene expression and mutant alleles. However, these analyses are imperfect proxies for the effects of segregating variants. Here, we describe the results of an extreme quantitative trait locus (xQTL) GWA analysis of female body pigmentation in an outbred population derived from light and dark DGRP lines. We replicated the effects on pigmentation of 28 genes implicated by the DGRP GWA study, including bab1, t and e and 7 genes previously validated by RNAi and/or mutant analyses. We also identified many additional loci. The genetic architecture of Drosophila pigmentation is complex, with a few major genes and many other loci with smaller effects.

A Variable Genetic Architecture of Melanic Evolution in Drosophila melanogaster

Unraveling the genetic architecture of adaptive phenotypic divergence is a fundamental quest in evolutionary biology. In Drosophila melanogaster, high-altitude melanism has evolved in separate mountain ranges in sub-Saharan Africa, potentially as an adaptation to UV intensity. We investigated the genetic basis of this melanism in three populations using a new bulk segregant analysis mapping method. We identified 19 distinct QTL regions from nine mapping crosses, with several QTL peaks overlapping between two or all populations, and yet different crosses involving the same melanic population commonly yielded distinct QTL. The strongest QTL often overlapped well-known pigmentation genes, but we typically did not find wide signals of genetic differentiation (F_ST) between lightly and darkly pigmented populations at these genes. Instead, we found small numbers of highly differentiated SNPs at the probable causative genes. A simulation analysis showed that these patterns of polymorphism were consistent with selection on standing genetic variation. Overall, our results suggest that, even for potentially simpler traits like pigmentation, the complexity of adaptive trait evolution poses important challenges for QTL mapping and population genetic analysis.

The pdm3 Locus Is a Hotspot for Recurrent Evolution of Female-Limited Color Dimorphism in Drosophila

Sex-limited polymorphisms are an intriguing form of sexual dimorphism that offer unique opportunities to reconstruct the evolutionary changes that decouple male and female traits encoded by a shared genome. We investigated the genetic basis of a Mendelian female-limited color dimorphism (FLCD) that segregates in natural populations of more than 20 species of the Drosophila montium subgroup. In these species, females have alternative abdominal color morphs, light and dark, whereas males have only one color morph in each species. A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the montium subgroup supports multiple origins of FLCD. Despite this, we mapped FLCD to the same locus in four distantly related species-the transcription factor POU domain motif 3 (pdm3), which acts as a repressor of abdominal pigmentation in D. melanogaster. In D. serrata, FLCD maps to a structural variant in the first intron of pdm3; however, this variant is not found in the three other species-D. kikkawai, D. leontia, and D. burlai-and sequence analysis strongly suggests the pdm3 alleles responsible for FLCD originated independently at least three times. We propose that cis-regulatory changes in pdm3 form sexually dimorphic and monomorphic alleles that segregate within species and are preserved, at least in one species, by structural variation. Surprisingly, pdm3 has not been implicated in the evolution of sex-specific pigmentation outside the montium subgroup, suggesting that the genetic paths to sexual dimorphism may be constrained within a clade but variable across clades.

Genetic dissection of intraspecific variation in a male-specific sexual trait in Drosophila melanogaster

An open question in evolutionary biology is the relationship between standing variation for a trait and the variation that leads to interspecific divergence. By identifying loci underlying phenotypic variation in intra- and interspecific crosses we can determine the extent to which polymorphism and divergence are controlled by the same genomic regions. Sexual traits provide abundant examples of morphological and behavioral diversity within and among species, and here we leverage variation in the Drosophila sex comb to address this question. The sex comb is an array of modified bristles or ‘teeth' present on the male forelegs of several Drosophilid species. Males use the comb to grasp females during copulation, and ablation experiments have shown that males lacking comb teeth typically fail to mate. We measured tooth number in >700 genotypes derived from a multiparental advanced-intercross population, mapping three moderate-effect loci contributing to trait heritability. Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) coincide with previously identified intra- and interspecific sex comb QTL, but such overlap can be explained by chance alone, in part because of the broad swathes of the genome implicated by earlier, low-resolution QTL scans. Our mapped QTL regions encompass 70–124 genes, but do not include those genes known to be involved in developmental specification of the comb. Nonetheless, we identified plausible candidates within all QTL intervals, and used RNA interference to validate effects at four loci. Notably, TweedleS expression knockdown substantially reduces tooth number. The genes we highlight are strong candidates to harbor segregating, functional variants contributing to sex comb tooth number.

Genetic variation but weak genetic covariation between pre- and post-copulatory episodes of sexual selection in Drosophila melanogaster

When females mate polyandrously, male reproductive success depends both on the male's ability to attain matings and on his ability to outcompete rival males in the fertilization of ova post-copulation. Increased investment in  ejaculate components may trade off with investment in precopulatory traits due to resource allocation. Alternatively, pre- and post-copulatory traits could be positively related if individuals can afford to invest heavily in traits advantageous at both episodes of selection. There is empirical evidence for both positive and negative associations between pre- and post-copulatory episodes, but little is known about the genetic basis of these correlations. In this study, we measured morphological, chemical and behavioural precopulatory male traits and investigated their relationship with measures of male fitness (male mating success, remating inhibition and offensive sperm competitiveness) across 40 isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster. We found significant variation among isofemale lines, indicating a genetic basis for most of the traits investigated. However, we found weak evidence for genetic correlations between precopulatory traits and our indices of male fitness. Moreover, pre- and post-copulatory episodes of selection were uncorrelated, suggesting selection may act independently at the different episodes to maximize male reproductive success.

The Genetic Basis of Pigmentation Differences Within and Between Drosophila Species

In Drosophila, as well as in many other plants and animals, pigmentation is highly variable both within and between species. This variability, combined with powerful genetic and transgenic tools as well as knowledge of how pigment patterns are formed biochemically and developmentally, has made Drosophila pigmentation a premier system for investigating the genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for phenotypic evolution. In this chapter, we review and synthesize findings from a rapidly growing body of case studies examining the genetic basis of pigmentation differences in the abdomen, thorax, wings, and pupal cases within and between Drosophila species. A core set of genes, including genes required for pigment synthesis (eg, yellow, ebony, tan, Dat) as well as developmental regulators of these genes (eg, bab1, bab2, omb, Dll, and wg), emerge as the primary sources of this variation, with most genes having been shown to contribute to pigmentation differences both within and between species. In cases where specific genetic changes contributing to pigmentation divergence were identified in these genes, the changes were always located in noncoding sequences and affected cis-regulatory activity. We conclude this chapter by discussing these and other lessons learned from evolutionary genetic studies of Drosophila pigmentation and identify topics we think should be the focus of future work with this model system.

Factors underlying natural variation in body pigmentation of Drosophila melanogaster

Molecular mechanisms underlying standing genetic variation of an ecologically relevant trait such as pigmentation trait variation in a model insect, Drosophila melanogaster, are relevant to our understanding of different kinds of intergenomic interactions. In this study, we focused on the association between body pigmentation and stress resistance, and on genotype-by-environment interaction, both of which are likely to contribute to the persistence of phenotypic variation in a natural population. First, we detected a significant association between pigmentation traits in females and starvation resistance (darker strains were weaker) and a weak association between pigmentation and chill coma recovery time (darker strains showed shorter recovery time) among 20 inbred strains from the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), which originated from a natural population in North America. These associations revealed a complex relationship between body pigmentation and physiological traits that may give rise to balanced selective forces acting on the traits under fluctuating environmental conditions. Second, using four of the DGRP strains, a substantial degree of genotype (strain) × environment (rearing temperature) interaction was detected among expression levels of the genes encoding effector enzymes in the melanin biosynthesis pathway. These interactions can potentially reduce the efficiency of purifying selection on the pigmentation traits over a wide range of temperature conditions. Finally, we discuss possible mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of the standing pigmentation variation in this species.

Reconciling Differences in Pool-GWAS Between Populations: A Case Study of Female Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

The degree of concordance between populations in the genetic architecture of a given trait is an important issue in medical and evolutionary genetics. Here, we address this problem, using a replicated pooled genome-wide association study approach (Pool-GWAS) to compare the genetic basis of variation in abdominal pigmentation in female European and South African Drosophila melanogaster. We find that, in both the European and the South African flies, variants near the tan and bric-à-brac 1 (bab1) genes are most strongly associated with pigmentation. However, the relative contribution of these loci differs: in the European populations, tan outranks bab1, while the converse is true for the South African flies. Using simulations, we show that this result can be explained parsimoniously, without invoking different causal variants between the populations, by a combination of frequency differences between the two populations and dominance for the causal alleles at the bab1 locus. Our results demonstrate the power of cost-effective, replicated Pool-GWAS to shed light on differences in the genetic architecture of a given trait between populations.

Complex patterns of cis-regulatory polymorphisms in ebony underlie standing pigmentation variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Pigmentation traits in adult Drosophila melanogaster were used in this study to investigate how phenotypic variations in continuous ecological traits can be maintained in a natural population. First, pigmentation variation in the adult female was measured at seven different body positions in 20 strains from the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) originating from a natural population in North Carolina. Next, to assess the contributions of cis-regulatory polymorphisms of the genes involved in the melanin biosynthesis pathway, allele-specific expression levels of four genes were quantified by amplicon sequencing using a 454 GS Junior. Among those genes, ebony was significantly associated with pigmentation intensity of the thoracic segment. Detailed sequence analysis of the gene regulatory regions of this gene indicated that many different functional cis-regulatory alleles are segregating in the population and that variations outside the core enhancer element could potentially play important roles in the regulation of gene expression. In addition, a slight enrichment of distantly associated SNP pairs was observed in the ~10 kb cis-regulatory region of ebony, which suggested the presence of interacting elements scattered across the region. In contrast, sequence analysis in the core cis-regulatory region of tan indicated that SNPs within the region are significantly associated with allele-specific expression level of this gene. Collectively, the data suggest that the underlying genetic differences in the cis-regulatory regions that control intraspecific pigmentation variation can be more complex than those of interspecific pigmentation trait differences, where causal genetic changes are typically confined to modular enhancer elements.

Genetic Changes to a Transcriptional Silencer Element Confers Phenotypic Diversity within and between Drosophila Species

The modification of transcriptional regulation has become increasingly appreciated as a major contributor to morphological evolution. However, the role of negative-acting control elements (e.g. silencers) in generating morphological diversity has been generally overlooked relative to positive-acting “enhancer” elements. The highly variable body coloration patterns among Drosophilid insects represents a powerful model system in which the molecular alterations that underlie phenotypic diversity can be defined. In a survey of pigment phenotypes among geographically disparate Japanese populations of Drosophila auraria, we discovered a remarkable degree of variation in male-specific abdominal coloration. In testing the expression patterns of the major pigment-producing enzymes, we found that phenotypes uniquely correlated with differences in the expression of ebony, a gene required for yellow-colored cuticle. Assays of ebony’s transcriptional control region indicated that a lightly pigmented strain harbored cis-regulatory mutations that caused correlated changes in its expression. Through a series of chimeric reporter constructs between light and dark strain alleles, we localized function-altering mutations to a conserved silencer that mediates a male-specific pattern of ebony repression. This suggests that the light allele was derived through the loss of this silencer’s activity. Furthermore, examination of the ebony gene of D. serrata, a close relative of D. auraria which secondarily lost male-specific pigmentation revealed the parallel loss of this silencer element. These results demonstrate how loss-of-function mutations in a silencer element resulted in increased gene expression. We propose that the mutational inactivation of silencer elements may represent a favored path to evolve gene expression, impacting morphological traits.

One of the greatest challenges in understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype is to discern how changes in DNA affect the normal functioning of genes. Mutations may generate a new function for a gene, yet it is frequently observed that they inactivate some aspect of a gene’s normal capacity. Investigations focused on understanding the developmental basis for the evolution of anatomical structures has found a prevalent role for mutations that alter developmental gene regulation. In animals, genes are transcriptionally activated in specific tissues during development by regulatory sequences distributed across their expansive non-protein coding regions. Regulatory elements known as silencers act to prevent genes from being expressed in certain tissues, providing a mechanism for precise control. Here, we show how a silencer that prevents expression of a pigment-producing enzyme in certain Drosophila species has repeatedly been subject to inactivating mutations that increased this gene’s expression. This example illustrates how such negative-acting regulatory sequences can represent a convenient target for increasing gene expression through the loss of a genetic element.

Unraveling the Tangled Skein: The Evolution of Transcriptional Regulatory Networks in Development

The molecular and genetic basis for the evolution of anatomical diversity is a major question that has inspired evolutionary and developmental biologists for decades. Because morphology takes form during development, a true comprehension of how anatomical structures evolve requires an understanding of the evolutionary events that alter developmental genetic programs. Vast gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that connect transcription factors to their target regulatory sequences control gene expression in time and space and therefore determine the tissue-specific genetic programs that shape morphological structures. In recent years, many new examples have greatly advanced our understanding of the genetic alterations that modify GRNs to generate newly evolved morphologies. Here, we review several aspects of GRN evolution, including their deep preservation, their mechanisms of alteration, and how they originate to generate novel developmental programs.

Genetic Architecture of Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster

Pigmentation varies within and between species and is often adaptive. The amount of pigmentation on the abdomen of Drosophila melanogaster is a relatively simple morphological trait, which serves as a model for mapping the genetic basis of variation in complex phenotypes. Here, we assessed natural variation in female abdominal pigmentation in 175 sequenced inbred lines of the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel, derived from the Raleigh, NC population. We quantified the proportion of melanization on the two most posterior abdominal segments, tergites 5 and 6 (T5, T6). We found significant genetic variation in the proportion of melanization and high broad-sense heritabilities for each tergite. Genome-wide association studies identified over 150 DNA variants associated with the proportion of melanization on T5 (84), T6 (34), and the difference between T5 and T6 (35). Several of the top variants associated with variation in pigmentation are in tan, ebony, and bric-a-brac1, genes known to affect D. melanogaster abdominal pigmentation. Mutational analyses and targeted RNAi-knockdown showed that 17 out of 28 (61%) novel candidate genes implicated by the genome-wide association study affected abdominal pigmentation. Several of these genes are involved in developmental and regulatory pathways, chitin production, cuticle structure, and vesicle formation and transport. These findings show that genetic variation may affect multiple steps in pathways involved in tergite development and melanization. Variation in these novel candidates may serve as targets for adaptive evolution and sexual selection in D. melanogaster.

The locus of sexual selection: moving sexual selection studies into the post-genomics era

Sexual selection drives fundamental evolutionary processes such as trait elaboration and speciation. Despite this importance, there are surprisingly few examples of genes unequivocally responsible for variation in sexually selected phenotypes. This lack of information inhibits our ability to predict phenotypic change due to universal behaviours, such as fighting over mates and mate choice. Here, we discuss reasons for this apparent gap and provide recommendations for how it can be overcome by adopting contemporary genomic methods, exploiting underutilized taxa that may be ideal for detecting the effects of sexual selection and adopting appropriate experimental paradigms. Identifying genes that determine variation in sexually selected traits has the potential to improve theoretical models and reveal whether the genetic changes underlying phenotypic novelty utilize common or unique molecular mechanisms. Such a genomic approach to sexual selection will help answer questions in the evolution of sexually selected phenotypes that were first asked by Darwin and can furthermore serve as a model for the application of genomics in all areas of evolutionary biology.

The evolutionary origination and diversification of a dimorphic gene regulatory network through parallel innovations in cis and trans

The origination and diversification of morphological characteristics represents a key problem in understanding the evolution of development. Morphological traits result from gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that form a web of transcription factors, which regulate multiple cis-regulatory element (CRE) sequences to control the coordinated expression of differentiation genes. The formation and modification of GRNs must ultimately be understood at the level of individual regulatory linkages (i.e., transcription factor binding sites within CREs) that constitute the network. Here, we investigate how elements within a network originated and diversified to generate a broad range of abdominal pigmentation phenotypes among Sophophora fruit flies. Our data indicates that the coordinated expression of two melanin synthesis enzymes, Yellow and Tan, recently evolved through novel CRE activities that respond to the spatial patterning inputs of Hox proteins and the sex-specific input of Bric-à-brac transcription factors. Once established, it seems that these newly evolved activities were repeatedly modified by evolutionary changes in the network’s trans-regulators to generate large-scale changes in pigment pattern. By elucidating how yellow and tan are connected to the web of abdominal trans-regulators, we discovered that the yellow and tan abdominal CREs are composed of distinct regulatory inputs that exhibit contrasting responses to the same Hox proteins and Hox cofactors. These results provide an example in which CRE origination underlies a recently evolved novel trait, and highlights how coordinated expression patterns can evolve in parallel through the generation of unique regulatory linkages.

The genomic content of regulatory genes such as transcription factors is surprisingly conserved between diverse animal species, raising the paradox of how new traits emerge, and are subsequently modified and lost. In this study we make a connection between the developmental basis for the formation of a fruit fly trait and the evolutionary basis for that trait’s origin, diversification, and loss. We show how the origin of a novel pigmentation trait is associated with the evolution of two regulatory sequences that control the co-expression of two key pigmentation genes. These sequences interact in unique ways with evolutionarily conserved Hox transcription factors to drive gene co-expression. Once these unique connections evolved, the alteration of this trait appears to have proceeded through changes to regulatory genes rather than regulatory sequences of the pigmentation genes. Thus, our findings support a scenario where regulatory sequence evolution provided new functions to old transcription factors, how co-expression can emerge from different utilizations of the same transcription factors, and that trait diversity was surprisingly shaped by changes in some manner to the deeply conserved regulatory genes.

Ontogenetic stage-specific quantitative trait loci contribute to divergence in developmental trajectories of sexually dimorphic fins between medaka populations

Sexual dimorphism can evolve when males and females differ in phenotypic optima. Genetic constraints can, however, limit the evolution of sexual dimorphism. One possible constraint is derived from alleles expressed in both sexes. Because males and females share most of their genome, shared alleles with different fitness effects between sexes are faced with intralocus sexual conflict. Another potential constraint is derived from genetic correlations between developmental stages. Sexually dimorphic traits are often favoured at adult stages, but selected against as juvenile, so developmental decoupling of traits between ontogenetic stages may be necessary for the evolution of sexual dimorphism in adults. Resolving intralocus conflicts between sexes and ages is therefore a key to the evolution of age-specific expression of sexual dimorphism. We investigated the genetic architecture of divergence in the ontogeny of sexual dimorphism between two populations of the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) that differ in the magnitude of dimorphism in anal and dorsal fin length. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping revealed that few QTL had consistent effects throughout ontogenetic stages and the majority of QTL change the sizes and directions of effects on fin growth rates during ontogeny. We also found that most QTL were sex-specific, suggesting that intralocus sexual conflict is almost resolved. Our results indicate that sex- and age-specific QTL enable the populations to achieve optimal developmental trajectories of sexually dimorphic traits in response to complex natural and sexual selection.

The expansion of body coloration involves coordinated evolution in cis and trans within the pigmentation regulatory network of Drosophila prostipennis

The generation of complex morphological features requires the precisely orchestrated expression of numerous genes during development. While several traits have been resolved to evolutionary changes within a single gene, the evolutionary path by which genes derive co-localized or mutually excluded expression patterns is currently a mystery. Here we investigate how the Drosophila pigmentation gene network was altered in Drosophila prostipennis, a species in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup, that evolved expanded abdominal pigmentation. We show that this expansion involved broadened expression of the melanin-promoting enzyme genes tan and yellow, and a reciprocal withdrawn pattern of the melanin-suppressing enzyme gene ebony. To examine whether these coordinated changes to the network were generated through mutations in the cis-regulatory elements (CREs) of these genes, we cloned and tested CREs of D. prostipennis tan, ebony, and yellow in transgenic reporter assays. Regulatory regions of both tan and ebony failed to recapitulate the derived D. prostipennis expression phenotype, implicating the modification of a factor or factors upstream of both genes. However, the D. prostipennis yellow cis-regulatory region recapitulated the expanded expression pattern observed in this species, implicating causative mutations in cis to yellow. Our results provide an example in which a coordinated expression program evolved through independent changes at multiple loci, rather than through changes to a single "master regulator" directing a suite of downstream target genes. This implies a complex network structure in which each gene may be subject to a unique set of inputs, and resultantly may require individualized evolutionary paths to yield correlated gene expression patterns.

Fine-mapping natural alleles: quantitative complementation to the rescue

Mapping the genes responsible for natural variation and divergence is a challenging task. Many studies have mapped genes to genomic regions or generated lists of candidates, but few studies have implicated specific genes with a high standard of evidence. I propose that combining recent advances in genomic engineering with a modified version of the quantitative complementation test will help turn candidate genes into causal genes. By creating loss-of-function mutations in natural strains, and using these mutations to quantitatively fail-to-complement natural alleles, fine mapping should be greatly facilitated. As an example, I propose that the CRISPR/Cas9 system could be combined with the FLP/FRT system to fine-map genes in the numerous systems where inversions have frustrated these efforts.

Pigmentation and behavior: potential association through pleiotropic genes in Drosophila

The molecular basis of pigmentation variation within and among Drosophila species is largely attributed to genes in melanin biosynthesis pathway, which involves dopamine metabolism. Most of the genetic changes underlying pigmentation variations reported to date are changes at the expression levels of the structural genes in the pathway. Within D. melanogaster, changes in cis-regulatory regions of a gene, ebony, are responsible for the naturally occurring variation of the body pigmentation intensity. This gene is also known to be expressed in glia, and many visual and behavioral abnormalities of its mutants have been reported. This implies that the gene has pleiotropic functions in the nervous systems. In this review, current knowledge on pigmentation variation and melanin biosynthesis pathway are summarized, with some focus on pleiotropic features of ebony and other genes in the pathway. A potential association between pigmentation and behavior through such pleiotropic genes is discussed in light of cis-regulatory structure and pleiotropic mutations.

Recurrent modification of a conserved cis-regulatory element underlies fruit fly pigmentation diversity

The development of morphological traits occurs through the collective action of networks of genes connected at the level of gene expression. As any node in a network may be a target of evolutionary change, the recurrent targeting of the same node would indicate that the path of evolution is biased for the relevant trait and network. Although examples of parallel evolution have implicated recurrent modification of the same gene and cis-regulatory element (CRE), little is known about the mutational and molecular paths of parallel CRE evolution. In Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, the Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors control the development of a suite of sexually dimorphic traits on the posterior abdomen. Female-specific Bab expression is regulated by the dimorphic element, a CRE that possesses direct inputs from body plan (ABD-B) and sex-determination (DSX) transcription factors. Here, we find that the recurrent evolutionary modification of this CRE underlies both intraspecific and interspecific variation in female pigmentation in the melanogaster species group. By reconstructing the sequence and regulatory activity of the ancestral Drosophila melanogaster dimorphic element, we demonstrate that a handful of mutations were sufficient to create independent CRE alleles with differing activities. Moreover, intraspecific and interspecific dimorphic element evolution proceeded with little to no alterations to the known body plan and sex-determination regulatory linkages. Collectively, our findings represent an example where the paths of evolution appear biased to a specific CRE, and drastic changes in function were accompanied by deep conservation of key regulatory linkages.

A genome-wide, fine-scale map of natural pigmentation variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Various approaches can be applied to uncover the genetic basis of natural phenotypic variation, each with their specific strengths and limitations. Here, we use a replicated genome-wide association approach (Pool-GWAS) to fine-scale map genomic regions contributing to natural variation in female abdominal pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster, a trait that is highly variable in natural populations and highly heritable in the laboratory. We examined abdominal pigmentation phenotypes in approximately 8000 female European D. melanogaster, isolating 1000 individuals with extreme phenotypes. We then used whole-genome Illumina sequencing to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) segregating in our sample, and tested these for associations with pigmentation by contrasting allele frequencies between replicate pools of light and dark individuals. We identify two small regions near the pigmentation genes tan and bric-à-brac 1, both corresponding to known cis-regulatory regions, which contain SNPs showing significant associations with pigmentation variation. While the Pool-GWAS approach suffers some limitations, its cost advantage facilitates replication and it can be applied to any non-model system with an available reference genome.

Phenotypic variation is abundant in natural populations, but its genetic basis is not always well-understood. Here, we examine the genetic basis of body pigmentation in Drosophila, a trait with a long history of study in Drosophila genetics and evolution. We conducted the first genome-wide scan for polymorphism associated with pigmentation variation in a large natural sample of D. melanogaster, and found SNPs near two genes, tan and bric-à-brac 1, affecting the trait. The SNPs associated with pigmentation variation in these genes appear to act by affecting the regulation of the pigmentation genes, rather than their protein coding sequence.

Drosophila sex combs as a model of evolutionary innovations

The diversity of animal and plant forms is shaped by nested evolutionary innovations. Understanding the genetic and molecular changes responsible for these innovations is therefore one of the key goals of evolutionary biology. From the genetic point of view, the origin of novel traits implies the origin of new regulatory pathways to control their development. To understand how these new pathways are assembled in the course of evolution, we need model systems that combine relatively recent innovations with a powerful set of genetic and molecular tools. One such model is provided by the Drosophila sex comb-a male-specific morphological structure that evolved in a relatively small lineage related to the model species D. melanogaster. Our extensive knowledge of sex comb development in D. melanogaster provides the basis for investigating the genetic changes responsible for sex comb origin and diversification. At the same time, sex combs can change on microevolutionary timescales and differ spectacularly among closely related species, providing opportunities for direct genetic analysis and for integrating developmental and population-genetic approaches. Sex comb evolution is associated with the origin of novel interactions between Hox and sex determination genes. Activity of the sex determination pathway was brought under the control of the Hox code to become segment-specific, while Hox gene expression became sexually dimorphic. At the same time, both Hox and sex determination genes were integrated into the intrasegmental spatial patterning network, and acquired new joint downstream targets. Phylogenetic analysis shows that similar sex comb morphologies evolved independently in different lineages. Convergent evolution at the phenotypic level reflects convergent changes in the expression of Hox and sex determination genes, involving both independent gains and losses of regulatory interactions. However, the downstream cell-differentiation programs have diverged between species, and in some lineages, similar adult morphologies are produced by different morphogenetic mechanisms. These features make the sex comb an excellent model for examining not only the genetic changes responsible for its evolution, but also the cellular processes that translate DNA sequence changes into morphological diversity. The origin and diversification of sex combs provides insights into the roles of modularity, cooption, and regulatory changes in evolutionary innovations, and can serve as a model for understanding the origin of the more drastic novelties that define higher order taxa.

Unraveling the thread of nature's tapestry: the genetics of diversity and convergence in animal pigmentation

Animals display incredibly diverse color patterns yet little is known about the underlying genetic basis of these phenotypes. However, emerging results are reshaping our view of how the process of phenotypic evolution occurs. Here, we outline recent research from three particularly active areas of investigation: melanin pigmentation in Drosophila, wing patterning in butterflies, and pigment variation in lizards. For each system, we highlight (i) the function and evolution of color variation, (ii) various approaches that have been used to explore the genetic basis of pigment variation, and (iii) conclusions regarding the genetic basis of convergent evolution which have emerged from comparative analyses. Results from these studies indicate that natural variation in pigmentation is a particularly powerful tool to examine the molecular basis of evolution, especially with regard to convergent or parallel evolution. Comparison of these systems also reveals that the molecular basis of convergent evolution is heterogeneous, sometimes involving conserved mechanisms and sometimes not. In the near future, additional work in other emerging systems will substantially expand the scope of available comparisons.

Quantitative Trait Loci for Lipid Content inDrosophila melanogaster

Recombinant inbred lines derived from a natural population were used to investigate natural genetic variation for lipid abundance, protein abundance, and weight of Drosophila melanogaster. Females were heavier and contained more lipid and soluble protein than males. Lipid and protein abundance were genetically correlated with female weight, but male weight was not correlated with lipid or protein. Lipid and protein abundance were genetically correlated in males, but not in females. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for weight and protein abundance were predominantly on the X chromosome, whereas QTLs for lipid abundance were found on the second and third chromosomes. QTLs for lipid proportion (lipid abundance normalized by weight or protein abundance) were present on all chromosomes; a lipid proportion QTL on the third chromosome correlated with a QTL for starvation resistance observed in a previous study using the same set of recombinant inbred lines, suggesting that it might underlie both traits. Candidate genes are discussed in relationship to lipid abundance, lipid proportion, and starvation resistance.

Genetic analysis of body color phenotypes in the fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster: supporting evidence through laboratory-selected dark and light strains

In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830, abdominal melanisation varies in a quantitative manner, but little attention has been paid to the genetic basis of different phenotypic classes and their ecological significance in the wild populations. Laboratory-selected darker and lighter body color strains were used for determining the genetic basis of body color phenotypes. Based on such genetic characterization, we interpreted body color variation of wild flies collected along a latitudinal gradient. Our results are interesting in several respects. First, laboratory selection produced lighter females and also lighter males, in contradiction of the well-known sexual dimorphism in D. melanogaster. The laboratory-selected darker and lighter strains showed lack of phenotypic plasticity, whereas F1flies from reciprocal crosses showed significant levels of phenotypic plasticity. Second, for both sexes, F2phenotypic classes resulting from reciprocal crosses between selected darker and lighter strains fit a two-locus model with a stronger maternal effect in males than in females. Third, changes in continuously varying abdominal melanisation of wild-caught flies were sorted into phenotypic bins of body color phenotypic classes and such data on geographical populations of D. melanogaster are consistent with climatic selection. Thus, we may suggest that for ecological genetic studies, greater emphasis should be laid on the analysis of bins of phenotypic classes of body melanisation in laboratory and wild populations of D. melanogaster.

Properties and power of the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource for the routine dissection of complex traits

The Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR) is a newly developed multifounder advanced intercross panel consisting of >1600 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) designed for the genetic dissection of complex traits. Here, we describe the inference of the underlying mosaic founder structure for the full set of RILs from a dense set of semicodominant restriction-site-associated DNA (RAD) markers and use simulations to explore how variation in marker density and sequencing coverage affects inference. For a given sequencing effort, marker density is more important than sequence coverage per marker in terms of the amount of genetic information we can infer. We also assessed the power of the DSPR by assigning genotypes at a hidden QTL to each RIL on the basis of the inferred founder state and simulating phenotypes for different experimental designs, different genetic architectures, different sample sizes, and QTL of varying effect sizes. We found the DSPR has both high power (e.g., 84% power to detect a 5% QTL) and high mapping resolution (e.g., ∼1.5 cM for a 5% QTL).

Genome-wide association analysis of oxidative stress resistance in Drosophila melanogaster

BACKGROUND

Aerobic organisms are susceptible to damage by reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress resistance is a quantitative trait with population variation attributable to the interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Drosophila melanogaster provides an ideal system to study the genetics of variation for resistance to oxidative stress.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

We used 167 wild-derived inbred lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel for a genome-wide association study of acute oxidative stress resistance to two oxidizing agents, paraquat and menadione sodium bisulfite. We found significant genetic variation for both stressors. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with variation in oxidative stress resistance were often sex-specific and agent-dependent, with a small subset common for both sexes or treatments. Associated SNPs had moderately large effects, with an inverse relationship between effect size and allele frequency. Linear models with up to 12 SNPs explained 67-79% and 56-66% of the phenotypic variance for resistance to paraquat and menadione sodium bisulfite, respectively. Many genes implicated were novel with no known role in oxidative stress resistance. Bioinformatics analyses revealed a cellular network comprising DNA metabolism and neuronal development, consistent with targets of oxidative stress-inducing agents. We confirmed associations of seven candidate genes associated with natural variation in oxidative stress resistance through mutational analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified novel candidate genes associated with variation in resistance to oxidative stress that have context-dependent effects. These results form the basis for future translational studies to identify oxidative stress susceptibility/resistance genes that are evolutionary conserved and might play a role in human disease.

Convergent, modular expression of ebony and tan in the mimetic wing patterns of Heliconius butterflies

The evolution of pigmentation in vertebrates and flies has involved repeated divergence at a small number of genes related to melanin synthesis. Here, we study insect melanin synthesis genes in Heliconius butterflies, a group characterised by its diversity of wing patterns consisting of black (melanin), and yellow and red (ommochrome) pigmented scales. Consistent with their respective biochemical roles in Drosophila melanogaster, ebony is upregulated in non-melanic wing regions destined to be pigmented red whilst tan is upregulated in melanic regions. Wing regions destined to be pigmented yellow, however, are downregulated for both genes. This pattern is conserved across multiple divergent and convergent phenotypes within the Heliconii, suggesting a conserved mechanism for the development of black, red and yellow pattern elements across the genus. Linkage mapping of five melanin biosynthesis genes showed that, in contrast to other organisms, these genes do not control pattern polymorphism. Thus, the pigmentation genes themselves are not the locus of evolutionary change but lie downstream of a wing pattern regulatory factor. The results suggest a modular system in which particular combinations of genes are switched on whenever red, yellow or black pattern elements are favoured by natural selection for diverse and mimetic wing patterns.

Divergent enhancer haplotype of ebony on inversion In(3R)Payne associated with pigmentation variation in a tropical population of Drosophila melanogaster

The pattern and intensity of pigmentation have direct impact on individual fitness through various ecological factors. In a Drosophila melanogaster population from southern Japan, thoracic trident pigmentation intensity of most of the strains could be classified into Dark or Light-type. The expression level variation of the ebony gene correlated well with this phenotype and the allelic differences in expression indicated that the variation is partly due to cis-regulatory changes. In the ∼13 kb gene region, we identified 17 nucleotide sites and 2 indels that were in complete association with the thoracic trident pigmentation intensity. Interestingly, 11 out of 19 sites located within ∼0.5 kb of the core epidermis enhancer. These sites had no obvious association with the abdominal pigmentation intensity in the previously analysed African populations from Uganda and Kenya, which suggested that multiple potential mutational pathways in the cis-regulatory control region of a single gene could lead to similar phenotypic variation within this species. We also found that the Light-type enhancer haplotype is strongly linked to a cosmopolitan inversion, In(3R)Payne, which is predominant in warmer climatic regions in both hemispheres. The sequence pattern suggested that the strong linkage may be due to selective forces related to thermal adaptation. The inferred selection for lighter pigmentation in the Japanese population is in the opposite direction of the previously reported case of selection for darker individuals in African populations. Nevertheless, both adaptive changes involved cis-regulatory changes of ebony, which shows that this gene is likely to be a common target of natural selection.

Whole-genome QTL scan for ultrasound and carcass merit traits in beef cattle using Bayesian shrinkage method

Fine mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 16 ultrasound measurements and carcass merit traits that were collected from 418 hybrid steers was conducted using 1207 SNP markers covering the entire genome. These SNP markers were evaluated using a Bayesian shrinkage estimation method and the empirical critical significant thresholds (α = 0.05 and α = 0.01) were determined by permutation based on 3500 permuted datasets for each trait to control the genome-wide type I error rates. The analyses identified a total of 105 QTLs (p < 0.05) for seven ultrasound measure traits including ultrasound backfat, ultrasound marbling and ultrasound ribeye area and 113 QTLs for seven carcass merit traits of carcass weight, grade fat, average backfat, ribeye area, lean meat yield, marbling and yield grade. Proportion of phenotypic variance accounted for by a single QTL ranged from 0.06% for mean ultrasound backfat to 4.83% for carcass marbling (CMAR) score, while proportion of the phenotypic variance accounted for by all significant (p < 0.05) QTL identified for a single trait ranged from 4.54% for carcass weight to 23.87% for CMAR.

Segregating variation in the polycomb group gene cramped alters the effect of temperature on multiple traits

The phenotype produced by a given genotype can be strongly modulated by environmental conditions. Therefore, natural populations continuously adapt to environment heterogeneity to maintain optimal phenotypes. It generates a high genetic variation in environment-sensitive gene networks, which is thought to facilitate evolution. Here we analyze the chromatin regulator crm, identified as a candidate for adaptation of Drosophila melanogaster to northern latitudes. We show that crm contributes to environmental canalization. In particular, crm modulates the effect of temperature on a genomic region encoding Hedgehog and Wingless signaling effectors. crm affects this region through both constitutive heterochromatin and Polycomb silencing. Furthermore, we show that crm European and African natural variants shift the reaction norms of plastic traits. Interestingly, traits modulated by crm natural variants can differ markedly between Drosophila species, suggesting that temperature adaptation facilitates their evolution.

Composite effects of polymorphisms near multiple regulatory elements create a major-effect QTL

Many agriculturally, evolutionarily, and medically important characters vary in a quantitative fashion. Unfortunately, the genes and sequence variants accounting for this variation remain largely unknown due to a variety of biological and technical challenges. Drosophila melanogaster contains high levels of sequence variation and low linkage disequilibrium, allowing us to dissect the effects of many causative variants within a single locus. Here, we take advantage of these features to identify and characterize the sequence polymorphisms that comprise major effect QTL alleles segregating at the bric-a-brac locus. We show that natural bric-a-brac alleles with large effects on cuticular pigmentation reflect a cumulative impact of polymorphisms that affect three functional regions: a promoter, a tissue-specific enhancer, and a Polycomb response element. Analysis of allele-specific expression at the bric-a-brac locus confirms that these polymorphisms modulate transcription at the cis-regulatory level. Our results establish that a single QTL can act through a confluence of multiple molecular mechanisms and that sequence variation in regions flanking experimentally validated functional elements can have significant quantitative effects on transcriptional activity and phenotype. These findings have important design and conceptual implications for basic and medical genomics.

Quantitative genetic analysis suggests causal association between cuticular hydrocarbon composition and desiccation survival in Drosophila melanogaster

Survival to low relative humidity is a complex adaptation, and many repeated instances of evolution to desiccation have been observed among Drosophila populations and species. One general mechanism for desiccation resistance is Cuticular Hydrocarbon (CHC) melting point. We performed the first Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) map of population level genetic variation in desiccation resistance in D. melanogaster. Using a panel of Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) derived from a single natural population, we mapped QTL in both sexes throughout the genome. We found that in both sexes, CHCs correlated strongly with desiccation resistance. At most desiccation resistance loci there was a significant association between CHCs and desiccation resistance of the sort predicted from clinal patterns of CHC variation and biochemical properties of lipids. This association was much stronger in females than males, perhaps because of greater overall abundance of CHCs in females, or due to correlations between CHCs used for waterproofing and sexual signalling in males. CHC evolution may be a common mechanism for desiccation resistance in D. melanogaster. It will be interesting to compare patterns of CHC variation and desiccation resistance in species which adapt to desiccation, and rainforest restricted species which cannot.

The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees: lessons from genetic mapping of sex determination in plants and animals

The ability to identify genetic markers in nonmodel systems has allowed geneticists to construct linkage maps for a diversity of species, and the sex-determining locus is often among the first to be mapped. Sex determination is an important area of study in developmental and evolutionary biology, as well as ecology. Its importance for organisms might suggest that sex determination is highly conserved. However, genetic studies have shown that sex determination mechanisms, and the genes involved, are surprisingly labile. We review studies using genetic mapping and phylogenetic inferences, which can help reveal evolutionary pattern within this lability and potentially identify the changes that have occurred among different sex determination systems. We define some of the terminology, particularly where confusion arises in writing about such a diverse range of organisms, and highlight some major differences between plants and animals, and some important similarities. We stress the importance of studying taxa suitable for testing hypotheses, and the need for phylogenetic studies directed to taxa where the patterns of changes can be most reliably inferred, if the ultimate goal of testing hypotheses regarding the selective forces that have led to changes in such an essential trait is to become feasible.

Mutations and quantitative genetic variation: lessons from Drosophila

A central issue in evolutionary quantitative genetics is to understand how genetic variation for quantitative traits is maintained in natural populations. Estimates of genetic variation and of genetic correlations and pleiotropy among multiple traits, inbreeding depression, mutation rates for fitness and quantitative traits and of the strength and nature of selection are all required to evaluate theoretical models of the maintenance of genetic variation. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster have shown that a substantial fraction of segregating variation for fitness-related traits in Drosophila is due to rare deleterious alleles maintained by mutation-selection balance, with a smaller but significant fraction attributable to intermediate frequency alleles maintained by alleles with antagonistic pleiotropic effects, and late-age-specific effects. However, the nature of segregating variation for traits under stabilizing selection is less clear and requires more detailed knowledge of the loci, mutation rates, allelic effects and frequencies of molecular polymorphisms affecting variation in suites of pleiotropically connected traits. Recent studies in D. melanogaster have revealed unexpectedly complex genetic architectures of many quantitative traits, with large numbers of pleiotropic genes and alleles with sex-, environment- and genetic background-specific effects. Future genome wide association analyses of many quantitative traits on a common panel of fully sequenced Drosophila strains will provide much needed empirical data on the molecular genetic basis of quantitative traits.

Significance test and genome selection in bayesian shrinkage analysis

Bayesian shrinkage analysis is the state-of-the-art method for whole genome analysis of quantitative traits. It can estimate the genetic effects for the entire genome using a dense marker map. The technique is now called genome selection. A nice property of the shrinkage analysis is that it can estimate effects of QTL as small as explaining 2% of the phenotypic variance in a typical sample size of 300-500 individuals. In most cases, QTL can be detected with simple visual inspection of the entire genome for the effect because the false positive rate is low. As a Bayesian method, no significance test is needed. However, it is still desirable to put some confidences on the estimated QTL effects. We proposed to use the permutation test to draw empirical thresholds to declare significance of QTL under a predetermined genome wide type I error. With the permutation test, Bayesian shrinkage analysis can be routinely used for QTL detection.