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Nunes WVB, Oliveira DS, Dias GDR, Carvalho AB, Caruso ÍP, Biselli JM, Guegen N, Akkouche A, Burlet N, Vieira C, Carareto CMA. A comprehensive evolutionary scenario for the origin and neofunctionalization of the Drosophila speciation gene Odysseus (OdsH). G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2024; 14:jkad299. [PMID: 38156703 PMCID: PMC10917504 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Odysseus (OdsH) was the first speciation gene described in Drosophila related to hybrid sterility in offspring of mating between Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila simulans. Its origin is attributed to the duplication of the gene unc-4 in the subgenus Sophophora. By using a much larger sample of Drosophilidae species, we showed that contrary to what has been previously proposed, OdsH origin occurred 62 MYA. Evolutionary rates, expression, and transcription factor-binding sites of OdsH evidence that it may have rapidly experienced neofunctionalization in male sexual functions. Furthermore, the analysis of the OdsH peptide allowed the identification of mutations of D. mauritiana that could result in incompatibility in hybrids. In order to find if OdsH could be related to hybrid sterility, beyond Sophophora, we explored the expression of OdsH in Drosophila arizonae and Drosophila mojavensis, a pair of sister species with incomplete reproductive isolation. Our data indicated that OdsH expression is not atypical in their male-sterile hybrids. In conclusion, we have proposed that the origin of OdsH occurred earlier than previously proposed, followed by neofunctionalization. Our results also suggested that its role as a speciation gene might be restricted to D. mauritiana and D. simulans.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Vilas Boas Nunes
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Daniel Siqueira Oliveira
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Guilherme de Rezende Dias
- Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS sl A2-075, 373 Carlos Chagas Filho Avenue, 21941-971 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Antonio Bernardo Carvalho
- Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS sl A2-075, 373 Carlos Chagas Filho Avenue, 21941-971 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ícaro Putinhon Caruso
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Joice Matos Biselli
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Nathalie Guegen
- Faculté de Médecine, iGReD, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, 4 Bd Claude Bernard, 63000 Clermont-Ferrande, France
| | - Abdou Akkouche
- Faculté de Médecine, iGReD, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, 4 Bd Claude Bernard, 63000 Clermont-Ferrande, France
| | - Nelly Burlet
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Cristina Vieira
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Claudia M A Carareto
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
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Maurer-Alcalá XX, Cote-L’Heureux A, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Katz LA. Somatic genome architecture and molecular evolution are decoupled in "young" linage-specific gene families in ciliates. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0291688. [PMID: 38271450 PMCID: PMC10810533 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
The evolution of lineage-specific gene families remains poorly studied across the eukaryotic tree of life, with most analyses focusing on the recent evolution of de novo genes in model species. Here we explore the origins of lineage-specific genes in ciliates, a ~1 billion year old clade of microeukaryotes that are defined by their division of somatic and germline functions into distinct nuclei. Previous analyses on conserved gene families have shown the effect of ciliates' unusual genome architecture on gene family evolution: extensive genome processing-the generation of thousands of gene-sized somatic chromosomes from canonical germline chromosomes-is associated with larger and more diverse gene families. To further study the relationship between ciliate genome architecture and gene family evolution, we analyzed lineage specific gene families from a set of 46 transcriptomes and 12 genomes representing x species from eight ciliate classes. We assess how the evolution lineage-specific gene families occurs among four groups of ciliates: extensive fragmenters with gene-size somatic chromosomes, non-extensive fragmenters with "large'' multi-gene somatic chromosomes, Heterotrichea with highly polyploid somatic genomes and Karyorelictea with 'paradiploid' somatic genomes. Our analyses demonstrate that: 1) most lineage-specific gene families are found at shallow taxonomic scales; 2) extensive genome processing (i.e., gene unscrambling) during development likely influences the size and number of young lineage-specific gene families; and 3) the influence of somatic genome architecture on molecular evolution is increasingly apparent in older gene families. Altogether, these data highlight the influences of genome architecture on the evolution of lineage-specific gene families in eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xyrus X. Maurer-Alcalá
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Auden Cote-L’Heureux
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Sergei L. Kosakovsky Pond
- Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Laura A. Katz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
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3
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Campelo dos Santos AL, DeGiorgio M, Assis R. Predicting evolutionary targets and parameters of gene deletion from expression data. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2024; 4:vbae002. [PMID: 38282974 PMCID: PMC10812876 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbae002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Motivation Gene deletion is traditionally thought of as a nonadaptive process that removes functional redundancy from genomes, such that it generally receives less attention than duplication in evolutionary turnover studies. Yet, mounting evidence suggests that deletion may promote adaptation via the "less-is-more" evolutionary hypothesis, as it often targets genes harboring unique sequences, expression profiles, and molecular functions. Hence, predicting the relative prevalence of redundant and unique functions among genes targeted by deletion, as well as the parameters underlying their evolution, can shed light on the role of gene deletion in adaptation. Results Here, we present CLOUDe, a suite of machine learning methods for predicting evolutionary targets of gene deletion events from expression data. Specifically, CLOUDe models expression evolution as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, and uses multi-layer neural network, extreme gradient boosting, random forest, and support vector machine architectures to predict whether deleted genes are "redundant" or "unique", as well as several parameters underlying their evolution. We show that CLOUDe boasts high power and accuracy in differentiating between classes, and high accuracy and precision in estimating evolutionary parameters, with optimal performance achieved by its neural network architecture. Application of CLOUDe to empirical data from Drosophila suggests that deletion primarily targets genes with unique functions, with further analysis showing these functions to be enriched for protein deubiquitination. Thus, CLOUDe represents a key advance in learning about the role of gene deletion in functional evolution and adaptation. Availability and implementation CLOUDe is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/anddssan/CLOUDe).
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Luiz Campelo dos Santos
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
| | - Michael DeGiorgio
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
| | - Raquel Assis
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
- Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, United States
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4
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Rasband SA, Bolton PE, Fang Q, Johnson PLF, Braun MJ. Evolution of the Growth Hormone Gene Duplication in Passerine Birds. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:7059008. [PMID: 36848146 PMCID: PMC10016047 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Revised: 12/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Birds of the order Passeriformes represent the most speciose order of land vertebrates. Despite strong scientific interest in this super-radiation, genetic traits unique to passerines are not well characterized. A duplicate copy of growth hormone (GH) is the only gene known to be present in all major lineages of passerines, but not in other birds. GH genes plausibly influence extreme life history traits that passerines exhibit, including the shortest embryo-to-fledging developmental period of any avian order. To unravel the implications of this GH duplication, we investigated the molecular evolution of the ancestral avian GH gene (GH or GH1) and the novel passerine GH paralog (GH2), using 497 gene sequences extracted from 342 genomes. Passerine GH1 and GH2 are reciprocally monophyletic, consistent with a single duplication event from a microchromosome onto a macrochromosome in a common ancestor of extant passerines. Additional chromosomal rearrangements have changed the syntenic and potential regulatory context of these genes. Both passerine GH1 and GH2 display substantially higher rates of nonsynonymous codon change than non-passerine avian GH, suggesting positive selection following duplication. A site involved in signal peptide cleavage is under selection in both paralogs. Other sites under positive selection differ between the two paralogs, but many are clustered in one region of a 3D model of the protein. Both paralogs retain key functional features and are actively but differentially expressed in two major passerine suborders. These phenomena suggest that GH genes may be evolving novel adaptive roles in passerine birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shauna A Rasband
- Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics Graduate Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.,Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
| | - Peri E Bolton
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.,Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
| | - Qi Fang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Shenzhen, China
| | | | - Michael J Braun
- Behavior, Ecology, Evolution and Systematics Graduate Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.,Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
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5
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Rushby HJ, Andrews ZB, Piper MD, Mirth CK. Ageing impairs protein leveraging in a sex-specific manner in Drosophila melanogaster. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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6
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Brasó-Vives M, Marlétaz F, Echchiki A, Mantica F, Acemel RD, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Hartasánchez DA, Le Targa L, Pontarotti P, Tena JJ, Maeso I, Escriva H, Irimia M, Robinson-Rechavi M. Parallel evolution of amphioxus and vertebrate small-scale gene duplications. Genome Biol 2022; 23:243. [PMID: 36401278 PMCID: PMC9673378 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-022-02808-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Amphioxus are non-vertebrate chordates characterized by a slow morphological and molecular evolution. They share the basic chordate body-plan and genome organization with vertebrates but lack their 2R whole-genome duplications and their developmental complexity. For these reasons, amphioxus are frequently used as an outgroup to study vertebrate genome evolution and Evo-Devo. Aside from whole-genome duplications, genes continuously duplicate on a smaller scale. Small-scale duplicated genes can be found in both amphioxus and vertebrate genomes, while only the vertebrate genomes have duplicated genes product of their 2R whole-genome duplications. Here, we explore the history of small-scale gene duplications in the amphioxus lineage and compare it to small- and large-scale gene duplication history in vertebrates. RESULTS We present a study of the European amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum) gene duplications thanks to a new, high-quality genome reference. We find that, despite its overall slow molecular evolution, the amphioxus lineage has had a history of small-scale duplications similar to the one observed in vertebrates. We find parallel gene duplication profiles between amphioxus and vertebrates and conserved functional constraints in gene duplication. Moreover, amphioxus gene duplicates show levels of expression and patterns of functional specialization similar to the ones observed in vertebrate duplicated genes. We also find strong conservation of gene synteny between two distant amphioxus species, B. lanceolatum and B. floridae, with two major chromosomal rearrangements. CONCLUSIONS In contrast to their slower molecular and morphological evolution, amphioxus' small-scale gene duplication history resembles that of the vertebrate lineage both in quantitative and in functional terms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Brasó-Vives
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ,grid.419765.80000 0001 2223 3006Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ferdinand Marlétaz
- grid.83440.3b0000000121901201Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE), University College London, London, UK
| | - Amina Echchiki
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ,grid.419765.80000 0001 2223 3006Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Federica Mantica
- grid.11478.3b0000 0004 1766 3695Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rafael D. Acemel
- grid.15449.3d0000 0001 2200 2355Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), CSIC-Pablo Olavide University, Sevilla, Spain
| | - José L. Gómez-Skarmeta
- grid.15449.3d0000 0001 2200 2355Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), CSIC-Pablo Olavide University, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Diego A. Hartasánchez
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lorlane Le Targa
- IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France ,grid.483853.10000 0004 0519 5986IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France ,grid.483853.10000 0004 0519 5986IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France ,grid.4444.00000 0001 2112 9282CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Juan J. Tena
- grid.15449.3d0000 0001 2200 2355Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), CSIC-Pablo Olavide University, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Ignacio Maeso
- grid.15449.3d0000 0001 2200 2355Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), CSIC-Pablo Olavide University, Sevilla, Spain ,grid.5841.80000 0004 1937 0247Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Hector Escriva
- grid.462844.80000 0001 2308 1657Biologie Intégrative des Organismes Marins, BIOM, CNRS-Sorbonne University, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
| | - Manuel Irimia
- grid.11478.3b0000 0004 1766 3695Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain ,grid.5612.00000 0001 2172 2676Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain ,grid.425902.80000 0000 9601 989XICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Robinson-Rechavi
- grid.9851.50000 0001 2165 4204Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland ,grid.419765.80000 0001 2223 3006Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
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Ercolano MR, D’Esposito D, Andolfo G, Frusciante L. Multilevel evolution shapes the function of NB-LRR encoding genes in plant innate immunity. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:1007288. [PMID: 36388554 PMCID: PMC9647133 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1007288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
A sophisticated innate immune system based on diverse pathogen receptor genes (PRGs) evolved in the history of plant life. To reconstruct the direction and magnitude of evolutionary trajectories of a given gene family, it is critical to detect the ancestral signatures. The rearrangement of functional domains made up the diversification found in PRG repertoires. Structural rearrangement of ancient domains mediated the NB-LRR evolutionary path from an initial set of modular proteins. Events such as domain acquisition, sequence modification and temporary or stable associations are prominent among rapidly evolving innate immune receptors. Over time PRGs are continuously shaped by different forces to find their optimal arrangement along the genome. The immune system is controlled by a robust regulatory system that works at different scales. It is important to understand how the PRG interaction network can be adjusted to meet specific needs. The high plasticity of the innate immune system is based on a sophisticated functional architecture and multi-level control. Due to the complexity of interacting with diverse pathogens, multiple defense lines have been organized into interconnected groups. Genomic architecture, gene expression regulation and functional arrangement of PRGs allow the deployment of an appropriate innate immunity response.
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Abstract
Speciation is the process by which barriers to gene flow evolve between populations. Although we now know that speciation is largely driven by natural selection, knowledge of the agents of selection and the genetic and genomic mechanisms that facilitate divergence is required for a satisfactory theory of speciation. In this essay, we highlight three advances/problems in our understanding of speciation that have arisen from studies of the genes and genomic regions that underlie the evolution of reproductive isolation. First, we describe how the identification of “speciation” genes makes it possible to identify the agents of selection causing the evolution of reproductive isolation, while also noting that the link between the genetics of phenotypic divergence and intrinsic postzygotic reproductive barriers remains tenuous. Second, we discuss the important role of recombination suppressors in facilitating speciation with gene flow, but point out that the means and timing by which reproductive barriers become associated with recombination cold spots remains uncertain. Third, we establish the importance of ancient genetic variation in speciation, although we argue that the focus of speciation studies on evolutionarily young groups may bias conclusions in favor of ancient variation relative to new mutations.
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9
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Bubnell JE, Ulbing CKS, Fernandez Begne P, Aquadro CF. Functional Divergence of the bag-of-marbles Gene in the Drosophila melanogaster Species Group. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6609986. [PMID: 35714266 PMCID: PMC9250105 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
In Drosophila melanogaster, a key germline stem cell (GSC) differentiation factor, bag of marbles (bam) shows rapid bursts of amino acid fixations between sibling species D. melanogaster and Drosophila simulans, but not in the outgroup species Drosophila ananassae. Here, we test the null hypothesis that bam's differentiation function is conserved between D. melanogaster and four additional Drosophila species in the melanogaster species group spanning approximately 30 million years of divergence. Surprisingly, we demonstrate that bam is not necessary for oogenesis or spermatogenesis in Drosophila teissieri nor is bam necessary for spermatogenesis in D. ananassae. Remarkably bam function may change on a relatively short time scale. We further report tests of neutral sequence evolution at bam in additional species of Drosophila and find a positive, but not perfect, correlation between evidence for positive selection at bam and its essential role in GSC regulation and fertility for both males and females. Further characterization of bam function in more divergent lineages will be necessary to distinguish between bam's critical gametogenesis role being newly derived in D. melanogaster, D. simulans, Drosophila yakuba, and D. ananassae females or it being basal to the genus and subsequently lost in numerous lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cynthia K S Ulbing
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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10
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Vance Z, Niezabitowski L, Hurst LD, McLysaght A. Evidence from Drosophila Supports Higher Duplicability of Faster Evolving Genes. Genome Biol Evol 2022; 14:6501445. [PMID: 35018456 PMCID: PMC8765793 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The faster rate of evolution of duplicated genes relative to singletons has been well documented in multiple lineages. This observation has generally been attributed to a presumed release from constraint following creation of a redundant, duplicate copy. However, it is not obvious that the relationship operates in this direction. An alternative possibility—that the faster rate of evolution predates the duplication event and the observed differences result from a higher propensity to duplicate in fast-evolving genes—has been tested in primates and in insects. However, these studies arrived at different conclusions and clarity is needed on whether these contrasting results relate to differences in methodology or legitimate biological differences between the lineages selected. Here, we test whether duplicable genes are faster evolving independent of duplication in the Drosophila lineage and find that our results support the conclusion that faster evolving genes are more likely to duplicate, in agreement with previous work in primates. Our findings indicate that this characteristic of gene duplication is not restricted to a single lineage and has broad implications for the interpretation of the impact of gene duplication. We identify a subset of “singletons” which defy the general trends and appear to be faster evolving. Further investigation implicates homology detection failure and suggests that these may be duplicable genes with unidentifiable paralogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Vance
- Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Laurence D Hurst
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Aoife McLysaght
- Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
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Begum T, Serrano‐Serrano ML, Robinson‐Rechavi M. Performance of a phylogenetic independent contrast method and an improved pairwise comparison under different scenarios of trait evolution after speciation and duplication. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tina Begum
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Martha Liliana Serrano‐Serrano
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Marc Robinson‐Rechavi
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Lausanne Switzerland
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12
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Bhattacharya T, Rice DW, Crawford JM, Hardy RW, Newton ILG. Evidence of Adaptive Evolution in Wolbachia-Regulated Gene DNMT2 and Its Role in the Dipteran Immune Response and Pathogen Blocking. Viruses 2021; 13:1464. [PMID: 34452330 PMCID: PMC8402854 DOI: 10.3390/v13081464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic nucleic acid methyltransferase (MTase) proteins are essential mediators of epigenetic and epitranscriptomic regulation. DNMT2 belongs to a large, conserved family of DNA MTases found in many organisms, including holometabolous insects such as fruit flies and mosquitoes, where it is the lone MTase. Interestingly, despite its nomenclature, DNMT2 is not a DNA MTase, but instead targets and methylates RNA species. A growing body of literature suggests that DNMT2 mediates the host immune response against a wide range of pathogens, including RNA viruses. Curiously, although DNMT2 is antiviral in Drosophila, its expression promotes virus replication in mosquito species. We, therefore, sought to understand the divergent regulation, function, and evolution of these orthologs. We describe the role of the Drosophila-specific host protein IPOD in regulating the expression and function of fruit fly DNMT2. Heterologous expression of these orthologs suggests that DNMT2's role as an antiviral is host-dependent, indicating a requirement for additional host-specific factors. Finally, we identify and describe potential evidence of positive selection at different times throughout DNMT2 evolution within dipteran insects. We identify specific codons within each ortholog that are under positive selection and find that they are restricted to four distinct protein domains, which likely influence substrate binding, target recognition, and adaptation of unique intermolecular interactions. Collectively, our findings highlight the evolution of DNMT2 in Dipteran insects and point to structural, regulatory, and functional differences between mosquito and fruit fly homologs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamanash Bhattacharya
- Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; (T.B.); (D.W.R.); (J.M.C.)
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Danny W. Rice
- Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; (T.B.); (D.W.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - John M. Crawford
- Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; (T.B.); (D.W.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - Richard W. Hardy
- Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; (T.B.); (D.W.R.); (J.M.C.)
| | - Irene L. G. Newton
- Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; (T.B.); (D.W.R.); (J.M.C.)
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Genomic analyses of new genes and their phenotypic effects reveal rapid evolution of essential functions in Drosophila development. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009654. [PMID: 34242211 PMCID: PMC8270118 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
It is a conventionally held dogma that the genetic basis underlying development is conserved in a long evolutionary time scale. Ample experiments based on mutational, biochemical, functional, and complementary knockdown/knockout approaches have revealed the unexpectedly important role of recently evolved new genes in the development of Drosophila. The recent progress in the genome-wide experimental testing of gene effects and improvements in the computational identification of new genes (< 40 million years ago, Mya) open the door to investigate the evolution of gene essentiality with a phylogenetically high resolution. These advancements also raised interesting issues in techniques and concepts related to phenotypic effect analyses of genes, particularly of those that recently originated. Here we reported our analyses of these issues, including reproducibility and efficiency of knockdown experiment and difference between RNAi libraries in the knockdown efficiency and testing of phenotypic effects. We further analyzed a large data from knockdowns of 11,354 genes (~75% of the Drosophila melanogaster total genes), including 702 new genes (~66% of the species total new genes that aged < 40 Mya), revealing a similarly high proportion (~32.2%) of essential genes that originated in various Sophophora subgenus lineages and distant ancestors beyond the Drosophila genus. The transcriptional compensation effect from CRISPR knockout were detected for highly similar duplicate copies. Knockout of a few young genes detected analogous essentiality in various functions in development. Taken together, our experimental and computational analyses provide valuable data for detection of phenotypic effects of genes in general and further strong evidence for the concept that new genes in Drosophila quickly evolved essential functions in viability during development.
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14
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DeGiorgio M, Assis R. Learning Retention Mechanisms and Evolutionary Parameters of Duplicate Genes from Their Expression Data. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:1209-1224. [PMID: 33045078 PMCID: PMC7947822 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning about the roles that duplicate genes play in the origins of novel phenotypes requires an understanding of how their functions evolve. A previous method for achieving this goal, CDROM, employs gene expression distances as proxies for functional divergence and then classifies the evolutionary mechanisms retaining duplicate genes from comparisons of these distances in a decision tree framework. However, CDROM does not account for stochastic shifts in gene expression or leverage advances in contemporary statistical learning for performing classification, nor is it capable of predicting the parameters driving duplicate gene evolution. Thus, here we develop CLOUD, a multi-layer neural network built on a model of gene expression evolution that can both classify duplicate gene retention mechanisms and predict their underlying evolutionary parameters. We show that not only is the CLOUD classifier substantially more powerful and accurate than CDROM, but that it also yields accurate parameter predictions, enabling a better understanding of the specific forces driving the evolution and long-term retention of duplicate genes. Further, application of the CLOUD classifier and predictor to empirical data from Drosophila recapitulates many previous findings about gene duplication in this lineage, showing that new functions often emerge rapidly and asymmetrically in younger duplicate gene copies, and that functional divergence is driven by strong natural selection. Hence, CLOUD represents a major advancement in classifying retention mechanisms and predicting evolutionary parameters of duplicate genes, thereby highlighting the utility of incorporating sophisticated statistical learning techniques to address long-standing questions about evolution after gene duplication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael DeGiorgio
- Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431.,Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431
| | - Raquel Assis
- Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431.,Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431
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15
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Barragan AC, Weigel D. Plant NLR diversity: the known unknowns of pan-NLRomes. THE PLANT CELL 2021; 33:814-831. [PMID: 33793812 PMCID: PMC8226294 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koaa002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Plants and pathogens constantly adapt to each other. As a consequence, many members of the plant immune system, and especially the intracellular nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat receptors, also known as NOD-like receptors (NLRs), are highly diversified, both among family members in the same genome, and between individuals in the same species. While this diversity has long been appreciated, its true extent has remained unknown. With pan-genome and pan-NLRome studies becoming more and more comprehensive, our knowledge of NLR sequence diversity is growing rapidly, and pan-NLRomes provide powerful platforms for assigning function to NLRs. These efforts are an important step toward the goal of comprehensively predicting from sequence alone whether an NLR provides disease resistance, and if so, to which pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Cristina Barragan
- Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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16
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LUCA to LECA, the Lucacene: A model for the gigayear delay from the first prokaryote to eukaryogenesis. Biosystems 2021; 205:104415. [PMID: 33812918 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 03/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
It is puzzling why life on Earth consisted of prokaryotes for up to 2.5 ± 0.5 billion years (Gy) before the appearance of the first eukaryotes. This period, from LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) to LECA (Last Eucaryotic Common Ancestor), we have named the Lucacene, to suggest all prokaryotic descendants of LUCA before the appearance of LECA. Here we present a simple model based on horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It is the process of HGT from Bacteria to Archaea and its reverse that we wish to simulate and estimate its duration until eukaryogenesis. Rough quantitation of its parameters shows that the model may explain the long duration of the Lucacene.
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17
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Schroeder CM, Valenzuela JR, Mejia Natividad I, Hocky GM, Malik HS. A Burst of Genetic Innovation in Drosophila Actin-Related Proteins for Testis-Specific Function. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 37:757-772. [PMID: 31697328 PMCID: PMC7038667 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Many cytoskeletal proteins perform fundamental biological processes and are evolutionarily ancient. For example, the superfamily of actin-related proteins (Arps) specialized early in eukaryotic evolution for diverse cellular roles in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Despite its strict conservation across eukaryotes, we find that the Arp superfamily has undergone dramatic lineage-specific diversification in Drosophila. Our phylogenomic analyses reveal four independent Arp gene duplications that occurred in the common ancestor of the obscura group of Drosophila and have been mostly preserved in this lineage. All four obscura-specific Arp paralogs are predominantly expressed in the male germline and have evolved under positive selection. We focus our analyses on the divergent Arp2D paralog, which arose via a retroduplication event from Arp2, a component of the Arp2/3 complex that polymerizes branched actin networks. Computational modeling analyses suggest that Arp2D can replace Arp2 in the Arp2/3 complex and bind actin monomers. Together with the signature of positive selection, our findings suggest that Arp2D may augment Arp2's functions in the male germline. Indeed, we find that Arp2D is expressed during and following male meiosis, where it localizes to distinct locations such as actin cones-specialized cytoskeletal structures that separate bundled spermatids into individual mature sperm. We hypothesize that this unprecedented burst of genetic innovation in cytoskeletal proteins may have been driven by the evolution of sperm heteromorphism in the obscura group of Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - John R Valenzuela
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
| | - Isabel Mejia Natividad
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.,University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
| | - Glen M Hocky
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY
| | - Harmit S Malik
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
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18
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Bao R, Friedrich M. Genomic signatures of globally enhanced gene duplicate accumulation in the megadiverse higher Diptera fueling intralocus sexual conflict resolution. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10012. [PMID: 33083121 PMCID: PMC7560327 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene duplication is an important source of evolutionary innovation. To explore the relative impact of gene duplication during the diversification of major insect model system lineages, we performed a comparative analysis of lineage-specific gene duplications in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Brachycera), the mosquito Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicomorpha), the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera), and the honeybee Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera). Focusing on close to 6,000 insect core gene families containing maximally six paralogs, we detected a conspicuously higher number of lineage-specific duplications in Drosophila (689) compared to Anopheles (315), Tribolium (386), and Apis (223). Based on analyses of sequence divergence, phylogenetic distribution, and gene ontology information, we present evidence that an increased background rate of gene duplicate accumulation played an exceptional role during the diversification of the higher Diptera (Brachycera), in part by providing enriched opportunities for intralocus sexual conflict resolution, which may have boosted speciation rates during the early radiation of the megadiverse brachyceran subclade Schizophora.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riyue Bao
- Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.,Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Markus Friedrich
- Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.,School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
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19
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Assis R. Out of the testis, into the ovary: biased outcomes of gene duplication and deletion in Drosophila. Evolution 2020; 73:1850-1862. [PMID: 31418820 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Gene turnover is a key source of adaptive variation. Yet most evolutionary studies have focused on gene duplication, dismissing gene deletion as a mechanism that simply eradicates redundancy. Here, I use genome-scale sequence and multi-tissue expression data from Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila pseudoobscura to simultaneously assess the evolutionary outcomes of gene duplication and deletion in Drosophila. I find that gene duplication is more frequent than gene deletion in both species, indicating that it may play a more important role in Drosophila evolution. However, examination of several genic properties reveals that genes likely possess distinct functions after duplication that diverge further before deletion, suggesting that loss of redundancy cannot explain a majority of gene deletion events in Drosophila. Moreover, in addition to providing support for the well-known "out of the testis" origin of young duplicate genes, analyses of gene expression profiles uncover a preferential bias against deletion of old ovary-expressed genes. Therefore, I propose a novel "into the ovary" hypothesis for gene deletion in Drosophila, in which gene deletion may promote adaptation by salvaging genes that contribute to the evolution of female reproductive phenotypes. Under this combined "out of the testis, into the ovary" evolutionary model, gene duplication and deletion work in concert to generate and maintain a balanced repertoire of genes that promote sex-specific adaptation in Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Assis
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16801
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20
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Jiang X, Assis R. Population-Specific Genetic and Expression Differentiation in Europeans. Genome Biol Evol 2020; 12:358-369. [PMID: 32365201 PMCID: PMC7197493 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Much of the enormous phenotypic variation observed across human populations is thought to have arisen from events experienced as our ancestors peopled different regions of the world. However, little is known about the genes involved in these population-specific adaptations. Here, we explore this problem by simultaneously examining population-specific genetic and expression differentiation in four human populations. In particular, we derive a branch-based estimator of population-specific differentiation in four populations, and apply this statistic to single-nucleotide polymorphism and RNA-seq data from Italian, British, Finish, and Yoruban populations. As expected, genome-wide estimates of genetic and expression differentiation each independently recapitulate the known relationships among these four human populations, highlighting the utility of our statistic for identifying putative targets of population-specific adaptations. Moreover, genes with large copy number variations display elevated levels of population-specific genetic and expression differentiation, consistent with the hypothesis that gene duplication and deletion events are key reservoirs of adaptive variation. Further, many top-scoring genes are well-known targets of adaptation in Europeans, including those involved in lactase persistence and vitamin D absorption, and a handful of novel candidates represent promising avenues for future research. Together, these analyses reveal that our statistic can aid in uncovering genes involved in population-specific genetic and expression differentiation, and that such genes often play important roles in a diversity of adaptive and disease-related phenotypes in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueyuan Jiang
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Raquel Assis
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431
- Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431
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21
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Delprat A, Guillén Y, Ruiz A. Computational Sequence Analysis of Inversion Breakpoint Regions in the Cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis Lineage. J Hered 2020; 110:102-117. [PMID: 30407542 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esy057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Accepted: 11/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated rates of chromosomal evolution in Drosophila mojavensis using whole-genome sequence information from D. mojavensis, Drosophila buzzatii, and Drosophila virilis. Drosophila mojavensis is a cactophilic species of the repleta group living under extreme ecological conditions in the deserts of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern México. The genome of D. buzzatii, another member of the repleta group, was recently sequenced and the largest scaffolds anchored to all chromosomes using diverse procedures. Chromosome organization between D. mojavensis and D. buzzatii was compared using MUMmer and GRIMM software. Our results corroborate previous cytological analyses that indicated chromosome 2 differed between these 2 species by 10 inversions, chromosomes X and 5 differed by one inversion each, and chromosome 4 was homosequential. In contrast, we found that chromosome 3 differed by 5 inversions instead of the expected 2 that were previously inferred by cytological analyses. Thirteen of these inversions occurred in the D. mojavensis lineage: 12 are fixed and one of them is a polymorphic inversion previously described in populations from Sonora and Baja California, México. We previously investigated the breakpoints of chromosome 2 inversions fixed in D. mojavensis. Here we characterized the breakpoint regions of the 5 inversions found in chromosome 3 in order to infer the molecular mechanism that generated each inversion and its putative functional consequences. Overall, our results reveal a number of gene alterations at the inversion breakpoints with putative adaptive consequences that point to natural selection as the cause for fast chromosomal evolution in D. mojavensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Delprat
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
| | - Yolanda Guillén
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
| | - Alfredo Ruiz
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
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22
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Dai X, Li R, Li X, Liang Y, Gao Y, Xu Y, Shi L, Zhou Y, Wang H. Gene duplication and subsequent functional diversification of sucrose hydrolase in Papilio xuthus. INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2019; 28:862-872. [PMID: 31155808 DOI: 10.1111/imb.12603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Sucrose is the main product of photosynthesis in plants, providing a rich carbon and energy source for the physiological growth and development of insects. In a previous study, we identified a novel sucrose hydrolase (SUH) in the larval midgut of moths. Intriguingly, there are two copies of Suh, namely Suh1 and Suh2, in several species of butterflies. However, the biochemical characteristics of SUHs in butterflies remain unclear. In this study, we found that this duplication and subsequent diversification produced two Suh genes in Papilio xuthus. These two PxSuh genes were significantly divergent in terms of their expression pattern and enzyme properties. PxSuh messenger RNA expression was highest during the larval stage, reduced in the prepupal and pupal stages and, for PxSuh1, slightly increased again in the adult. The observed levels of PxSuh2 were overall below those of PxSuh1 amongst the development stages examined. Compared with PxSUH2, which has maintained the original gene function of maltose hydrolysis, PxSUH1 exhibits substrate specificity for sucrose with an optimum enzyme activity occurring at an alkaline pH. The data show that PxSuh1 is evolutionarily adapted for effective functioning in an alkaline digestive system. Furthermore, we find that functional diversification of Suh facilitates P. xuthus to digestive carbohydrate of host plants. Thus, our findings offer new insights into the ecological and evolutionary adaptation of digestive enzymes in butterflies.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Dai
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - R Li
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - X Li
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Liang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Gao
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Xu
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - L Shi
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Y Zhou
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - H Wang
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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23
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Haploid selection drives new gene male germline expression. Genome Res 2019; 29:1115-1122. [PMID: 31221725 PMCID: PMC6633266 DOI: 10.1101/gr.238824.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
New genes are a major source of novelties, and a disproportionate amount of them are known to show testis expression in later phases of male gametogenesis in different groups such as mammals and plants. Here, we propose that this enhanced expression is a consequence of haploid selection during the latter stages of male gametogenesis. Because emerging adaptive mutations will be fixed faster if their phenotypes are expressed by haploid rather than diploid genotypes, new genes with advantageous functions arising during this unique stage of development have a better chance to become fixed. To test this hypothesis, expression levels of genes of differing evolutionary age were examined at various stages of Drosophila spermatogenesis. We found, consistent with a model based on haploid selection, that new Drosophila genes are both expressed in later haploid phases of spermatogenesis and harbor a significant enrichment of adaptive mutations. Additionally, the observed overexpression of new genes in the latter phases of spermatogenesis was limited to the autosomes. Because all male cells exhibit hemizygous expression for X-linked genes (and therefore effectively haploid), there is no expectation that selection acting on late spermatogenesis will have a different effect on X-linked genes in comparison to initial diploid phases. Together, our proposed hypothesis and the analyzed data suggest that natural selection in haploid cells elucidates several aspects of the origin of new genes by explaining the general prevalence of their testis expression, and a parsimonious solution for new alleles to avoid being lost by genetic drift or pseudogenization.
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24
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Helleu Q, Levine MT. Recurrent Amplification of the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) Gene Family across Diptera. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 35:2375-2389. [PMID: 29924345 PMCID: PMC6188558 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The heterochromatic genome compartment mediates strictly conserved cellular processes such as chromosome segregation, telomere integrity, and genome stability. Paradoxically, heterochromatic DNA sequence is wildly unconserved. Recent reports that many hybrid incompatibility genes encode heterochromatin proteins, together with the observation that interspecies hybrids suffer aberrant heterochromatin-dependent processes, suggest that heterochromatic DNA packaging requires species-specific innovations. Testing this model of coevolution between fast-evolving heterochromatic DNA and its packaging proteins begins with defining the latter. Here we describe many such candidates encoded by the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) gene family across Diptera, an insect Order that encompasses dramatic episodes of heterochromatic sequence turnover. Using BLAST, synteny analysis, and phylogenetic tree building across 64 Diptera genomes, we discovered a staggering 121 HP1 duplication events. In contrast, we observed virtually no gene duplication in gene families that share a common “chromodomain” with HP1s, including Polycomb and Su(var)3-9. The remarkably high number of Dipteran HP1 paralogs arises from distant clades undergoing convergent HP1 family amplifications. These independently derived, young HP1s span diverse ages, domain structures, and rates of molecular evolution, including episodes of positive selection. Moreover, independently derived HP1s exhibit convergent expression evolution. While ancient HP1 parent genes are transcribed ubiquitously, young HP1 paralogs are transcribed primarily in male germline tissue, a pattern typical of young genes. Pervasive gene youth, rapid evolution, and germline specialization implicate heterochromatin-encoded selfish elements driving recurrent HP1 gene family expansions. The 121 young genes offer valuable experimental traction for elucidating the germline processes shaped by Diptera’s many dramatic episodes of heterochromatin turnover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Helleu
- Department of Biology, Epigenetics Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Mia T Levine
- Department of Biology, Epigenetics Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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25
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Jiang X, Assis R. Rapid functional divergence after small-scale gene duplication in grasses. BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:97. [PMID: 31046675 PMCID: PMC6498639 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-019-1415-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gene duplication has played an important role in the evolution and domestication of flowering plants. Yet little is known about how plant duplicate genes evolve and are retained over long timescales, particularly those arising from small-scale duplication (SSD) rather than whole-genome duplication (WGD) events. RESULTS We address this question in the Poaceae (grass) family by analyzing gene expression data from nine tissues of Brachypodium distachyon, Oryza sativa japonica (rice), and Sorghum bicolor (sorghum). Consistent with theoretical predictions, expression profiles of most grass genes are conserved after SSD, suggesting that functional conservation is the primary outcome of SSD in grasses. However, we also uncover support for widespread functional divergence, much of which occurs asymmetrically via the process of neofunctionalization. Moreover, neofunctionalization preferentially targets younger (child) duplicate gene copies, is associated with RNA-mediated duplication, and occurs quickly after duplication. Further analysis reveals that functional divergence of SSD-derived genes is positively correlated with both sequence divergence and tissue specificity in all three grass species, and particularly with anther expression in B. distachyon. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that SSD-derived grass genes often undergo rapid functional divergence that may be driven by natural selection on male-specific phenotypes. These observations are consistent with those in several animal species, suggesting that duplicate genes take similar evolutionary trajectories in plants and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueyuan Jiang
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Raquel Assis
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
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26
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Xiao W, Ye Z, Yao X, He L, Lei Y, Luo D, Su S. Evolution of ALOG gene family suggests various roles in establishing plant architecture of Torenia fournieri. BMC PLANT BIOLOGY 2018; 18:204. [PMID: 30236061 PMCID: PMC6148777 DOI: 10.1186/s12870-018-1431-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND ALOG (Arabidopsis LSH1 and Oryza G1) family with a conserved domain widely exists in plants. A handful of ALOG members have been functionally characterized, suggesting their roles as key developmental regulators. However, the evolutionary scenario of this gene family during the diversification of plant species remains largely unclear. METHODS Here, we isolated seven ALOG genes from Torenia fournieri and phylogenetically analyzed them with different ALOG members from representative plants in major taxonomic clades. We further examined their gene expression patterns by RT-PCR, and regarding the protein subcellular localization, we co-expressed the candidates with a nuclear marker. Finally, we explored the functional diversification of two ALOG members, TfALOG1 in euALOG1 and TfALOG2 in euALOG4 sub-clades by obtaining the transgenic T. fournieri plants. RESULTS The ALOG gene family can be divided into different lineages, indicating that extensive duplication events occurred within eudicots, grasses and bryophytes, respectively. In T. fournieri, seven TfALOG genes from four sub-clades exhibit distinct expression patterns. TfALOG1-6 YFP-fused proteins were accumulated in the nuclear region, while TfALOG7-YFP was localized both in nuclear and cytoplasm, suggesting potentially functional diversification. In the 35S:TfALOG1 transgenic lines, normal development of petal epidermal cells was disrupted, accompanied with changes in the expression of MIXTA-like genes. In 35S:TfALOG2 transgenic lines, the leaf mesophyll cells development was abnormal, favoring functional differences between the two homologous proteins. Unfortunately, we failed to observe any phenotypical changes in the TfALOG1 knock-out mutants, which might be due to functional redundancy as the case in Arabidopsis. CONCLUSION Our results unraveled the evolutionary history of ALOG gene family, supporting the idea that changes occurred in the cis regulatory and/or nonconserved coding regions of ALOG genes may result in new functions during the establishment of plant architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Ziqing Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Xinran Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Liang He
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Yawen Lei
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Da Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
| | - Shihao Su
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China
- Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601 Japan
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