Project description:Genomes of closely-related species or populations often display localized regions of enhanced relative sequence divergence, termed genomic islands. It has been proposed that these islands arise through selective sweeps and/or barriers to gene flow. Here, we genetically dissect a genomic island that controls flower color pattern differences between two subspecies of Antirrhinum, A.m.striatum and A.m.pseudomajus, and relate it to clinal variation across a natural hybrid zone. We show that selective sweeps likely raised relative divergence at two tightly-linked MYB-like transcription factors, leading to distinct flower patterns in the two subspecies. The two patterns provide alternate floral guides and create a strong barrier to gene flow where populations come into contact. This barrier affects the selected flower color genes and tightly linked loci, but does not extend outside of this domain, allowing gene flow to lower relative divergence for the rest of the chromosome. Thus, both selective sweeps and barriers to gene flow play a role in shaping genomic islands: sweeps cause elevation in relative divergence while heterogeneous gene flow flattens the surrounding “sea”, making the island of divergence stand out. By showing how selective sweeps establish alternative adaptive phenotypes that lead to barriers to gene flow, our study sheds light on possible mechanisms leading to reproductive isolation and speciation.
Project description:Archaeospora ecuadoriana sp. nov. from a mountainous biodiversity hotspot area in Ecuador, and transfer of Palaeospora spainiae to Archaeospora, as A. spainiae comb. nov.
Project description:Local adaptation is often a product of environmental variations in geographical space and has implications for biodiversity conservation. We investigated the role of latitudinal heterogeneity in climate on the organization of genetic and phenotypic variation in the dominant coastal tree Avicennia schaueriana. In a common garden experiment, samples from an equatorial region, with pronounced seasonality in precipitation, accumulated less biomass, and showed lower stomatal conductance and transpiration, narrower xylem vessels, smaller leaves and higher reflectance of long wavelengths by the stem epidermis than samples from a subtropical region, with seasonality in temperature and no dry season. Transcriptomic differences identified between trees sampled under field conditions at equatorial and subtropical sites, were enriched in functional categories such as responses to temperature, solar radiation, water deficit, photosynthesis and cell wall biosynthesis. Remarkably, the diversity based on genome-wide SNPs revealed a north-south genetic structure and signatures of selection were identified for loci associated with photosynthesis, anthocyanin accumulation and the responses to osmotic and hypoxia stresses. Our results suggest the existence of divergence in key resource-use characteristics, likely driven by seasonality in water deficit and solar radiation. These findings provide a basis for conservation plans and for predicting coastal plants responses to climate change.
Project description:We used microarrays and a previously established linkage map to localize the genetic determinants of brain gene expression for a backcross family of lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus sp.). Our goals were to elucidate the genomic distribution and sex-specificity of brain expression QTL (eQTL) and to determine the extent to which genes controlling transcriptional variation may underlie adaptive divergence in the recently evolved dwarf (limnetic) and normal (benthic) whitefish. We observed a sex-bias in transcriptional genetic architecture, with more eQTL observed in males, as well as divergence in genome location of eQTL between sexes. Hotspots of nonrandom aggregations of up to 32 eQTL in one location were observed. We identified candidate genes for species pair divergence involved with energetic metabolism, protein synthesis, and neural development based on co-localization of eQTL for these genes with eight previously identified adaptive phenotypic QTL and four previously identified outlier loci from a genome scan in natural populations. 88% of eQTL-phenotypic QTL co-localization involved growth rate and condition factor QTL, two traits central to adaptive divergence between whitefish species pairs. Hotspots co-localized with phenotypic QTL in several cases, revealing possible locations where master regulatory genes, such as a zinc finger protein in one case, control gene expression directly related to adaptive phenotypic divergence. We observed little evidence of co-localization of brain eQTL with behavioral QTL, which provides insight on the genes identified by behavioral QTL studies. These results extend to the transcriptome level previous work illustrating that selection has shaped recent parallel divergence between dwarf and normal lake whitefish species pairs and that metabolic, more than morphological differences appear to play a key role in this divergence. Keywords: eQTL mapping, gene expression, linkage mapping, adaptive radiation, Coregonus, microarrays The objective of this study was to elucidate the genomic distribution and sex-specificity of brain eQTL in dwarf and normal lake whitefish. Dissected brain tissue (250-350 mg) was sampled for 55 individuals from a hybrid x dwarf backcross mapping family. We used a loop design (YANG and SPEED 2002; CHURCHILL 2002) to maximize the number of sampled meioses. Each of 55 samples was technically replicated on two distinct slides, while performing dye swapping (Cy3 and Alexa) to estimate the dye intensity variation bias. After correcting for local background, raw intensity values were both log2 transformed and normalized using the regional LOWESS method implemented in the R/MANOVA software (KERR et al. 2000). We used a previously generated linkage map based on the same backcross individuals for which gene expression was measured. eQTL mapping was performed with QTL Cartographer.
Project description:We used the bioluminescent squid symbiont, Vibrio fischeri, to identify essential regulatory factors that control expression and function of a strain-specific T6SS encoded within a genomic island. Random transposon mutagenesis revealed that three genes located on the T6SS2-encoding genomic island are necessary to activate expression of a T6SS reporter. We used a proteomics approach to identify proteins that were differentially abundant in mutant strains compared to the wild type when cells were grown in a high-viscosity media.
Project description:Cichlids fishes exhibit extensive phenotypic diversification and speciation. In this study we integrate transcriptomic and proteomic signatures from two cichlids species, identify novel open reading frames (nORFs) and perform evolutionary analysis on these nORF regions. We embark comparative transrcriptomics and proteogenomic analysis of two metabolically active tissues, the testes and liver, of two cichlid species Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia, ON) and Pundamilia nyererei (Makobe Island, PN). Our results suggest that the time scale of speciation of the two species can be better explained by the evolutionary divergence of these nORF genomic regions.
2021-05-17 | GSE150744 | GEO
Project description:Madagascar: Preserving a blueprint of Asteracaeae hyperendemism in a biodiversity hotspot
Project description:To study recombination at the fine-scale, we used high-throughput sequencing of 300 to 1,000 crossovers within the RAC1 R gene hotspot. This revealed focused intragenic crossovers, overlapping exons encoding the TIR, NBS and LRR domains. To examine the role of recombination pathways, we repeated this experiment in recq4a recq4b, fancm and recq4a recq4b fancm mutants. Finally, in order to investigate how varying patterns of interhomolog divergence influence local patterns of crossover frequency, we repeated RAC1 pollen typing sequencing in different F1 hybrids.
Project description:Speciation involves the reproductive isolation of natural populations due to the sterility or lethality of their hybrids. However, the molecular basis of hybrid lethality and the evolutionary driving forces that provoke it, remain largely elusive. The hybrid male rescue (Hmr) and the lethal hybrid rescue (Lhr) genes serve as a model to study speciation in Drosophilids as their interaction causes lethality in male hybrid offspring. Here we show that HMR and LHR form a centromeric complex necessary for proper chromosome segregation. We find that the Hmr expression level is substantially higher in D. melanogaster whereas Lhr expression levels are increased in D. simulans. The resulting elevated amount of HMR/LHR complex in hybrids results in an extensive mislocalisation of the complex, an interference with the regulation of transposable elements and an impairment of cell proliferation. Our findings provide evidence for a major role of centromere divergence in the generation of biodiversity. Raw data were analysed using the MaxQuant 1.2.2.5 software package. Identified proteins were considered as interation partners if their MaxQuant iBAQ values displayed a greater than 16fold enrichment compared to control anti-FLAG purifications from Schneider cell nuclear extracts not expressing any FLAG-tagged protein.