Project description:Many insects enter a developmental arrest (diapause) that allows them to survive harsh seasonal conditions. Despite the well-established ecological significance of diapause, the molecular basis of this crucial adaptation remains largely unresolved. Sitodiplosis mosellana (Gehin), the orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM), causes serious damage to wheat throughout the northern hemisphere, and sporadic outbreaks occur in the world. Traits related to diapause appear to be important factors contributing to their rapid spread and outbreak. To better understand the diapause mechanisms of OWBM, we sequenced the transcriptome and determined the gene expression profile of this species.
Project description:After the end of the last ice age, ancestrally marine threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have undergone an adaptive radiation into freshwater environments throughout the Northern Hemisphere, creating an excellent model system for studying molecular adaptation and speciation. Stickleback populations are reproductively isolated to varying degrees, despite the fact that they can be crossed in the lab to produce viable offspring. Ecological and behavioral factors have been suggested to underlie incipient stickleback speciation. However, reproductive proteins represent a previously unexplored driver of speciation. As mediators of gamete recognition during fertilization, reproductive proteins both create and maintain species boundaries. Gamete recognition proteins are also frequently found to be rapidly evolving, and their divergence may culminate in reproductive isolation and ultimately speciation. As an initial investigation into the contribution of reproductive proteins to stickleback reproductive isolation, we characterized the egg coat proteome of threespine stickleback eggs. In agreement with other teleosts, we find that stickleback egg coats are comprised of homologs to the zona pellucida (ZP) proteins ZP1 and ZP3. We explore aspects of stickleback ZP protein biology, including glycosylation, disulfide bonding, and sites of synthesis, and find many substantial differences compared to their mammalian homologs. Furthermore, molecular evolutionary analyses indicate that ZP3, but not ZP1, has experienced positive Darwinian selection across teleost fish. Taken together, these changes to stickleback ZP protein architecture suggest that the egg coats of stickleback fish, and perhaps fish more generally, have evolved to fulfill a more protective functional role than their mammalian counterparts.
Project description:After the end of the last ice age, ancestrally marine threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have undergone an adaptive radiation into freshwater environments throughout the Northern Hemisphere, creating an excellent model system for studying molecular adaptation and speciation. Stickleback populations are reproductively isolated to varying degrees, despite the fact that they can be crossed in the lab to produce viable offspring. Ecological and behavioral factors have been suggested to underlie incipient stickleback speciation. However, reproductive proteins represent a previously unexplored driver of speciation. As mediators of gamete recognition during fertilization, reproductive proteins both create and maintain species boundaries. Gamete recognition proteins are also frequently found to be rapidly evolving, and their divergence may culminate in reproductive isolation and ultimately speciation. As an initial investigation into the contribution of reproductive proteins to stickleback reproductive isolation, we characterized the egg coat proteome of threespine stickleback eggs. In agreement with other teleosts, we find that stickleback egg coats are comprised of homologs to the zona pellucida (ZP) proteins ZP1 and ZP3. We explore aspects of stickleback ZP protein biology, including glycosylation, disulfide bonding, and sites of synthesis, and find many substantial differences compared to their mammalian homologs. Furthermore, molecular evolutionary analyses indicate that ZP3, but not ZP1, has experienced positive Darwinian selection across teleost fish. Taken together, these changes to stickleback ZP protein architecture suggest that the egg coats of stickleback fish, and perhaps fish more generally, have evolved to fulfill a more protective functional role than their mammalian counterparts.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE25841: Evolutionary Diversification of Duplicated Genes; Experiment A GSE25843: Evolutionary Diversification of Duplicated Genes; Experiments B-I, M-P GSE25845: Evolutionary Diversification of Duplicated Genes; Experiments B-I GSE25850: Evolutionary Diversification of Duplicated Genes; Experiment J GSE25851: Evolutionary Diversification of Duplicated Genes; Experiment L, K GSE25852: Empirical Annotation of the Daphnia pulex genome; Experiment B GSE25855: Empirical Annotation of the Daphnia pulex genome; Experiment A GSE25856: Empirical Annotation of the Daphnia pulex genome; Experiment C Refer to individual Series
Project description:Many insects enter a developmental arrest (diapause) that allows them to survive harsh seasonal conditions. Despite the well-established ecological significance of diapause, the molecular basis of this crucial adaptation remains largely unresolved. Sitodiplosis mosellana (Gehin), the orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM), causes serious damage to wheat throughout the northern hemisphere, and sporadic outbreaks occur in the world. Traits related to diapause appear to be important factors contributing to their rapid spread and outbreak. To better understand the diapause mechanisms of OWBM, we sequenced the transcriptome and determined the gene expression profile of this species. Examination of different gene expression in DOL and NDOL Total RNA was extracted separately from DOL and NDOL using Trizol Reagent following manufacturer’s instructions. Approximately 10μg RNA from each sample was used to construct individual DGE libraries. mRNA was isolated as described under cDNA library construction. The cDNA fragments were purified by agarose gel electrophoresis and enriched by PCR amplification. Each library had an insert size of 200 bp, and 42 - 50 bp sequences were generated by Illumina HiSeq 2000 in a single run using paired-end technology. SRA Study SRP019201.
Project description:The loss of discrete morphological traits, the most common evolutionary transition, is typically driven by changes in expression of developmental genes. Mutations accumulating in regulatory elements of these genes can disrupt DNA binding sites for transcription factors patterning their spatial expression, or delete entire enhancers. Regulatory elements, however, may in principle be silenced through other mechanisms, including changes in chromatin accessibility, or the emergence of repressive elements. Here, we show that an increase in chromatin accessibility at the pigmentation gene yellow, combined with the gain of a repressor site, underlie the evolutionary loss of a spot pigmentation pattern on the wings of a Drosophila species. The evolutionary gain of accessibility of this repressive element is regulated by E93, a transcription factor governing the progress of metamorphosis. This convoluted evolutionary scenario contrasts with the classical parsimonious mutational paths generally envisioned and often documented for morphological losses. It illustrates for the first time how evolutionary changes in chromatin accessibility may directly contribute to morphological diversification. We profiled chromatin accessibility at selected stages in the pupal wings of D. melanogaster and D. biarmipes using ATAC-seq.