Project description:Throughout the animal kingdom, we know many examples of mating system evolution that exemplify adaptive responses to changes in the environment, yet our understanding of the accompanying neural and molecular mechanisms that give rise to such behavioral changes remains understudied. In the present study we aimed to define the molecular basis of interspecific variation in social organization in Ectodini cichlids from Lake Tanganyika. We selected four closely related species that represent two independent evolutions of monogamy: the polygynous Xenotilapia ochrogenys, the monogamous Xenotilapia flavipinnis, the polygynous Microdontochromis tenuidentata and the monogamous Asprotilapia leptura. Using a single cichlid microarray platform, we conducted a total of 28 direct comparisons for neural gene expression level among males and 26 among females of four species that represent 2 independent evolutions of monogamy. Our results indicate the gene expression profiles display remarkable plasticity across different time scales because we find differences associated with sex, mating system, and lineage.
Project description:Neurospora tetrasperma is a pseudohomothallic filamentous ascomycete with a large (~ 7 Mbp) region of suppressed recombination surrounding its mating-type (mat) locus. The suppressed recombination has lead to sequence divergence between the two mating-type chromosomes of wild-type heterokaryotic strains, while the remaining genome is largely homoallelic. In this study, we use microarray technology to manifest expression divergence linked to mating type in N. tetrasperma. N. tetrasperma and N. crassa, were grown on agar regimes inducing sexual growth (Synthetic Crossing medium) and vegetative growth (Vogel's Medium), respectively.
Project description:We examined the methylation state of upstream intergenic regions associated with two aromatase genes (cyp19a1A and cyp19a1B) in P. pulcher, a cichlid fish with pH-based sex and male morph determination. Methylation levels in fry head and trunk and adult brain and gonad samples were assessed with a bisulfite amplicon sequencing assay and sequence data was processed through two pipelines to determine % methylation of individual CpG sites and abundance of specific patterns of methylated and unmethylated CpGs (i.e., epialleles).
Project description:Temporal gene expression changes in head tissues from mated females was determined at four time points post-mating, from 0-2 hours out to 72 hours. Each time point assayed post-mating showed a unique post-mating gene expression response, with 48 hours post-mating having the largest number of genes with expression changes. At most time points, a marked change in expression of genes expressed in the head fat body and encode products that function in metabolism was observed. Additionally, gene expression was analyzed at 24 hours post-mating in brain tissues, identifying the repressed expression of several genes encoding ion channels.
Project description:We examined the mating response of three yeast species, by subjecting a-type cells from each of them to alpha-factor (6uM). The expression of cells before and after (60min) addition of alpha-factor were compared using S. cerevisiae cDNA microarrays. In addition, we verified our results with a true mating experiment: the expression of a-type and alpha-type cells from S. cerevisiae were compared before and after mixing them for 90 minutes (i.e. allowing them to mate). Keywords: yeast mating response, comparison among species
Project description:Yeast chromosome III contains the mating type loci that provide a paradigm for long-range interactions between distant loci. Yeast switch mating type by gene conversion between the MAT locus and either of two silent loci (HML or HMR) on opposite ends of the chromosome. This long-range process is mating type-specific so that MATa cells choose HML as template, while MATα cells use HMR. The Recombination Enhancer (RE), located on the left arm regulates this process. One long-standing hypothesis is that switching is guided by mating type-specific, and possibly RE-dependent three-dimensional folding of chromosome III. Here we used Hi-C, 5C, and live cell imaging to characterize the conformation of chromosome III in both mating types in non-switching strains. We discovered a mating type-specific difference in the folding of the left arm: in MATa cells the left arm is located closely to the centromere-proximal portion of the chromosome as well as to MAT, whereas it is more extended away in MATα cells. Deletion analysis showed that a 1 kb subregion within the RE, which is not necessary during switching, abolished mating type-dependent chromosome folding. In this mutant the conformation of chromosome III is the same in both mating types, but distinct from the wild type MATa or MATα conformations, indicating that the RE induces conformational changes in both mating types. The RE is therefore a composite element with one subregion essential for selecting the appropriate donor during switching, and a separate region involved in modulating chromosome conformation prior to switching.
Project description:Most behaviors are associated with heritable genetic variation. Genetic mapping has revealed genomic regions or, in a few cases, specific genes explaining part of this variation. However, understanding how genetic divergence shapes behavioral evolution remains unclear. Here we analyze the evolution of an innate extended phenotype: bower building among male cichlid fish of Lake Malawi, which build bowers of two types, pits and castles. F1 hybrids of pit-digging and castle-building species perform sequential construction of first pit and then castle bowers. Analysis of brain gene expression in these hybrids showed that genes near behavior-associated variants display behavior-dependent allele-specific expression with preferential expression of the pit-species allele during pit digging, and of the castle-species allele during castle building. These genes are highly enriched for functions and pathways involved in neurodevelopment and neural plasticity. Our results suggest that natural behaviors can be associated with complex genetic architectures that alter behavior via cis-regulatory differences whose effects on gene expression are specific to the behavior itself.