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Comparative transcriptomics of early dipteran development.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Modern sequencing technologies have massively increased the amount of data available for comparative genomics. Whole-transcriptome shotgun sequencing (RNA-seq) provides a powerful basis for comparative studies. In particular, this approach holds great promise for emerging model species in fields such as evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). RESULTS: We have sequenced early embryonic transcriptomes of two non-drosophilid dipteran species: the moth midge Clogmia albipunctata, and the scuttle fly Megaselia abdita. Our analysis includes a third, published, transcriptome for the hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus. These emerging models for comparative developmental studies close an important phylogenetic gap between Drosophila melanogaster and other insect model systems. In this paper, we provide a comparative analysis of early embryonic transcriptomes across species, and use our data for a phylogenomic re-evaluation of dipteran phylogenetic relationships. CONCLUSIONS: We show how comparative transcriptomics can be used to create useful resources for evo-devo, and to investigate phylogenetic relationships. Our results demonstrate that de novo assembly of short (Illumina) reads yields high-quality, high-coverage transcriptomic data sets. We use these data to investigate deep dipteran phylogenetic relationships. Our results, based on a concatenation of 160 orthologous genes, provide support for the traditional view of Clogmia being the sister group of Brachycera (Megaselia, Episyrphus, Drosophila), rather than that of Culicomorpha (which includes mosquitoes and blackflies).

SUBMITTER: Jimenez-Guri E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3616871 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparative transcriptomics of early dipteran development.

Jiménez-Guri Eva E Huerta-Cepas Jaime J Cozzuto Luca L Wotton Karl R KR Kang Hui H Himmelbauer Heinz H Roma Guglielmo G Gabaldón Toni T Jaeger Johannes J

BMC genomics 20130224

<h4>Background</h4>Modern sequencing technologies have massively increased the amount of data available for comparative genomics. Whole-transcriptome shotgun sequencing (RNA-seq) provides a powerful basis for comparative studies. In particular, this approach holds great promise for emerging model species in fields such as evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo).<h4>Results</h4>We have sequenced early embryonic transcriptomes of two non-drosophilid dipteran species: the moth midge Clogmia a ...[more]

PMID: 23432914

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Project description:BackgroundPetal nectar spurs, which facilitate pollination through animal attraction and pollen placement, represent a key innovation promoting diversification in the genus Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae). Identifying the genetic components that contribute to the development of these three-dimensional structures will inform our understanding of the number and types of genetic changes that are involved in the evolution of novel traits. In a prior study, gene expression between two regions of developing petals, the laminar blade and the spur cup, was compared at two developmental stages in the horticultural variety A. coerulea 'Origami'. Several hundred genes were differentially expressed (DE) between the blade and spur at both developmental stages. In order to narrow in on a set of genes crucial to early spur formation, the current study uses RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to conduct comparative expression analyses of petals from five developmental stages between four Aquilegia species, three with morphologically variable nectar spurs, A. sibirica, A. formosa, and A. chrysantha, and one that lacks nectar spurs, A. ecalcarata.ResultsPetal morphology differed increasingly between taxa across the developmental stages assessed, with petals from all four taxa being indistinguishable pre-spur formation at developmental stage 1 (DS1) and highly differentiated by developmental stage 5 (DS5). In all four taxa, genes involved in mitosis were down-regulated over the course of the assessed developmental stages, however, many genes involved in mitotic processes remained expressed at higher levels later in development in the spurred taxa. A total of 690 genes were identified that were consistently DE between the spurred taxa and A. ecalcarata at all five developmental stages. By comparing these genes with those identified as DE between spur and blade tissue in A. coerulea 'Origami', a set of only 35 genes was identified that shows consistent DE between petal samples containing spur tissue versus those without spur tissue.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that expression differences in very few loci are associated with the presence and absence of spurs. In general, it appears that the spurless petals of A. ecalcarata cease cell divisions and enter the cell differentiation phase at an earlier developmental time point than those that produce spurs. This much more tractable list of 35 candidates genes will greatly facilitate targeted functional studies to assess the genetic control and evolution of petal spurs in Aquilegia.

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Comparative transcriptomics of early dipteran development.

Publications

Comparative transcriptomics of early dipteran development.

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