Sex and Speciation: Genetic Architecture and Evolutionary Potential of Sexual Versus Nonsexual Traits in the Sibling Species of the Drosophila melanogaster Complex

Evolution ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Civetta ◽  
Rama S. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sibling Species ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Evolutionary Potential

scholarly journals Epistatic interactions attenuate mutations affecting startle behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster

2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 373-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
AKIHIKO YAMAMOTO ◽  
ROBERT R. H. ANHOLT ◽  
TRUDY F. C. MACKAY
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Complex Traits ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Quantitative Traits ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Genetic Network ◽  
Stabilizing Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Epistatic Interactions ◽  
Main Effects

SummaryEpistasis is an important feature of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits. Previously, we showed that startle-induced locomotor behaviour of Drosophila melanogaster, a critical survival trait, is highly polygenic and exhibits epistasis. Here, we characterize epistatic interactions among homozygous P-element mutations affecting startle-induced locomotion in the Canton-S isogenic background and in 21 wild-derived inbred genetic backgrounds. We find pervasive epistasis for pairwise combinations of homozygous P-element insertional mutations as well as for mutations in wild-derived backgrounds. In all cases, the direction of the epistatic effects is to suppress the mutant phenotypes. The magnitude of the epistatic interactions in wild-derived backgrounds is highly correlated with the magnitude of the main effects of mutations, leading to phenotypic robustness of the startle response in the face of deleterious mutations. There is variation in the magnitude of epistasis among the wild-derived genetic backgrounds, indicating evolutionary potential for enhancing or suppressing effects of single mutations. These results provide a partial glimpse of the complex genetic network underlying the genetic architecture of startle behaviour and provide empirical support for the hypothesis that suppressing epistasis is the mechanism underlying genetic canalization of traits under strong stabilizing selection. Widespread suppressing epistasis will lead to underestimates of the main effects of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in mapping experiments when not explicitly accounted for. In addition, suppressing epistasis could lead to underestimates of mutational variation for quantitative traits and overestimates of the strength of stabilizing selection, which has implications for maintenance of variation of complex traits by mutation–selection balance.

scholarly journals PROPERTIES AND EVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF NEWLY INDUCED TANDEM DUPLICATIONS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Genetics ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Paul A Roberts ◽  
David J Broderick
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Linkage Disequilibrium ◽  
Tandem Duplication ◽  
Polytene Chromosomes ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
New Genes ◽  
Tandem Duplications

ABSTRACT Most of some 33 X-ray-induced duplications recovered as Suppressors of Minute loci proved to be direct tandem duplications. When heterozygous, most duplications were crossover suppressors, and duplications of short to moderate size did not reduce the fitness of their bearers. Crossover suppression by tandem duplication may be attributed to intrastrand foldbacks of the type regularly seen in somatic polytene chromosomes. As a consequence, linkage disequilibrium between duplicated elements and normal chromosomes should be more profound than has been supposed. Tandem duplications appear to be predisposed by reason of frequency of generation, crossover suppression and fitness effects to serve as the primary source of new genes.

scholarly journals Complex constraints on allometry revealed by artificial selection on the wing of Drosophila melanogaster

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (43) ◽  
pp. 13284-13289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geir H. Bolstad ◽  
Jason A. Cassara ◽  
Eladio Márquez ◽  
Thomas F. Hansen ◽  
Kim van der Linde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Artificial Selection ◽  
Allometric Scaling ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Selection Response ◽  
Wing Shape ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Internal Selection

Precise exponential scaling with size is a fundamental aspect of phenotypic variation. These allometric power laws are often invariant across taxa and have long been hypothesized to reflect developmental constraints. Here we test this hypothesis by investigating the evolutionary potential of an allometric scaling relationship in drosophilid wing shape that is nearly invariant across 111 species separated by at least 50 million years of evolution. In only 26 generations of artificial selection in a population of Drosophila melanogaster, we were able to drive the allometric slope to the outer range of those found among the 111 sampled species. This response was rapidly lost when selection was suspended. Only a small proportion of this reversal could be explained by breakup of linkage disequilibrium, and direct selection on wing shape is also unlikely to explain the reversal, because the more divergent wing shapes produced by selection on the allometric intercept did not revert. We hypothesize that the reversal was instead caused by internal selection arising from pleiotropic links to unknown traits. Our results also suggest that the observed selection response in the allometric slope was due to a component expressed late in larval development and that variation in earlier development did not respond to selection. Together, these results are consistent with a role for pleiotropic constraints in explaining the remarkable evolutionary stability of allometric scaling.

S elements: a family of Tc1-like transposons in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster.

Genetics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 141 (4) ◽  
pp. 1425-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
P J Merriman ◽  
C D Grimes ◽  
J Ambroziak ◽  
D A Hackett ◽  
P Skinner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Sibling Species ◽  
Inverted Repeat ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Drosophila Species ◽  
Insertion Mutation ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Diploid Genome

Abstract The S elements form a diverse family of long-inverted-repeat transposons within the genome of Drosophila melanogaster. These elements vary in size and sequence, the longest consisting of 1736 bp with 234-bp inverted terminal repeats. The longest open reading frame in an intact S element could encode a 345-amino acid polypeptide. This polypeptide is homologous to the transposases of the mariner-Tc1 superfamily of transposable elements. S elements are ubiquitous in D. melanogaster populations and also appear to be present in the genomes of two sibling species; however, they seem to be absent from 17 other Drosophila species that were examined. Within D. melanogaster strains, there are, on average, 37.4 cytologically detectable S elements per diploid genome. These elements are scattered throughout the chromosomes, but several sites in both the euchromatin and beta heterochromatin are consistently occupied. The discovery of an S-element-insertion mutation and a reversion of this mutation indicates that S elements are at least occasionally mobile in the D. melanogaster genome. These elements seem to insert at an AT dinucleotide within a short palindrome and apparently duplicate that dinucleotide upon insertion.

scholarly journals The Genetic Architecture of Resistance to Desiccation in Populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans

1974 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 441 ◽  
Author(s):  
A McKenzie ◽  
PA Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Architecture

Populations of D. melanogaster and D. simulans from Melbourne, Vic., and Brisbane, Qld, were regularly sampled for resistance to desiccation. D. melanogaster was more resistant than D. simulans and females of each species were more resistant than males for both populations.

Oligogenic Adaptation, Soft Sweeps, and Parallel Melanic Evolution in Drosophila melanogaster

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héloïse Bastide ◽  
Jeremy D. Lange ◽  
Justin B. Lack ◽  
Yassin Amir ◽  
John E. Pool
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Mapping Method ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractUnraveling 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. Although hundreds of genes are known to affect cuticular pigmentation in D. melanogaster, we identified only 19 distinct QTLs from 9 mapping crosses, with several QTL peaks being shared among two or all populations. Surprisingly, we did not find wide signals of genetic differentiation (Fst) between lightly and darkly pigmented populations at these QTLs, in spite of the pronounced phenotypic difference in pigmentation. Instead, we found small numbers of highly differentiated SNPs at the probable causative genes. A simulation analysis showed that these patterns of polymorphism are consistent with selection on standing genetic variation (leading to “soft sweeps“). Our results thus support a role for oligogenic selection on standing genetic variation in driving parallel ecological adaptation.

scholarly journals Genetic Networks Underlying Natural Variation in Basal and Induced Activity Levels in Drosophila melanogaster

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1247-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis P. Watanabe ◽  
Cameron Gordon ◽  
Mina Y. Momeni ◽  
Nicole C. Riddle
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Neuromuscular Junctions ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Exercise Activity ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Exercise Induced

Exercise is recommended by health professionals across the globe as part of a healthy lifestyle to prevent and/or treat the consequences of obesity. While overall, the health benefits of exercise and an active lifestyle are well understood, very little is known about how genetics impacts an individual’s inclination for and response to exercise. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the genetic architecture underlying natural variation in activity levels in the model system Drosophila melanogaster. Activity levels were assayed in the Drosophila Genetics Reference Panel fly strains at baseline and in response to a gentle exercise treatment using the Rotational Exercise Quantification System. We found significant, sex-dependent variation in both activity measures and identified over 100 genes that contribute to basal and induced exercise activity levels. This gene set was enriched for genes with functions in the central nervous system and in neuromuscular junctions and included several candidate genes with known activity phenotypes such as flightlessness or uncoordinated movement. Interestingly, there were also several chromatin proteins among the candidate genes, two of which were validated and shown to impact activity levels. Thus, the study described here reveals the complex genetic architecture controlling basal and exercise-induced activity levels in D. melanogaster and provides a resource for exercise biologists.

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