Project description:We performed mRNA sequencing of samples isolated from the heads, thoraxes, and abdomens of males and females of Drosophila willistoni to identify genes that are differentially expressed between the sexes.
Project description:We performed mRNA sequencing of samples isolated from the heads, thoraxes, and abdomens of males and females of Drosophila willistoni to identify genes that are differentially expressed between the sexes. Comparison of expression levels in females and males
Project description:We identified orthologs of the roX lncRNAs across diverse Drosophilid species, and then mapped the genomic binding sites of roX1 and roX2 in four Drosophila species (D. melanogaster, D. willistoni, D. virilis, and D. busckii) using ChIRP-seq (chromatin isolation by RNA Purification and sequencing), thus revealing the interplay of the evolution of roX1 and roX2 and their genomic binding sites.
Project description:Expression profiling by high-throughput sequencing (RNA-seq) across eight WT Drosophila species - D. melanogaster, D. simulans, D. yakuba, D. ananassae, D. pseudoobscura, D. willistoni, D. mojavensis and D. virilis - and three tissues, namely, brain, eye-antennal and imaginal discs, at the stage of third instar larvae.
Project description:Speciation can occur through the presence of reproductive isolation barriers that impede mating, restrict cross-fertilization, or render inviable/sterile hybrid progeny. The D. willistoni subgroup is ideally suited for studies of speciation, with examples of both allopatry and sympatry, a range of isolation barriers, and the availability of one species complete genome sequence to facilitate genetic studies of divergence. D. w. willistoni has the largest geographic distribution among members of the Drosophila willistoni subgroup, spanning from Argentina to the southern United States, including the Caribbean islands. A subspecies of D. w. willistoni, D. w. quechua, is geographically separated by the Andes mountain range and has evolved unidirectional sterility, in that only male offspring of D. w. quechua females × D. w. willistoni males are sterile. Whether D. w. willistoni flies residing east of the Andes belong to one or more D. willistoni subspecies remains unresolved. Here we perform fecundity assays and show that F1 hybrid males produced from crosses between different strains found in Central America, North America, and northern Caribbean islands are reproductively isolated from South American and southern Caribbean island strains as a result of unidirectional hybrid male sterility. Our results show the existence of a reproductive isolation barrier between the northern and southern strains and suggest a subdivision of the previously identified D. willistoni willistoni species into 2 new subspecies.
