Project description:Purpose: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized systems-based analysis of melanic variation. The goals of this study are to evaluate population evolutionary genetics associated with dark and light color variation in a lizard.
Project description:This experiment contains the Anolis carolinensis subset of data from the experiment E-GEOD-41338 (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/experiments/E-GEOD-41338/). mRNA profiles of several organs (brain, liver, kidney, heart, skeletal muscle) in multiple vertebrate species (mouse, chicken, lizard, frog, pufferfish) were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq to better understand how species with similar repertoires of protein-coding genes differ so markedly at the phenotypic level.
Project description:Anolis carolinensis embryos were collected 0-1 days post egg laying, and total RNA was extracted for RNA-Seq analysis (Illumina Hi-Seq2000). Transcriptome sequence from these stages in the green anole, equivalent to mouse 9.5-10.5 dpc embryos, will help to improve gene annotations in A. carolinensis and provide expression level information for key organogenesis and patterning processes. Anolis carolinensis embryos were collected 0-1 days post egg laying for RNA-Seq analysis. The two embryos collected were at 28 somite-pair (28S) and 38 somite-pair (38S), equivalent to mouse 9.5 dpc and 10.5 dpc embryos, respectively. Total RNA was extracted using the total RNA component of the mirVana (Ambion) kit, RNA-Seq library prep was carried out using the NuGEN Ovation RNA-Seq kit, and sequencing was carried out on an Illumina HiSeq 2000, following the manufacturer's protocol. The untrimmed data was then aligned to the Anolis carolinensis reference genome (Anocar2.0) using tophat. Published: Eckalbar WL, Lasku E, Infante CR, Elsey RM, Markov GJ, Allen AN, Corneveaux JJ, Losos JB, DeNardo DF, Huentelman MJ, Wilson-Rawls J, Rawls A, Kusumi K. Somitogenesis in the anole lizard and alligator reveals evolutionary convergence and divergence in the amniote segmentation clock. Dev Biol. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2011.11.021
Project description:We investigated gene expression levels in Heliconius erato butterflies with divergent wing patterns across a 656KB genomic interval linked to the red color pattern wing polymorphism. This included comparison of expression between two H. erato color pattern populations (H. e. petiverana and a H.e. etylus x H. himera hybrid) across three sections of the forewing that differed in pigmentation (the basal, mid, and distal wing sections) and five different stages of pupal development (Day 1, 3, 5 pupae and ommochrome and melanin pigmentation stages). These results allowed us to determine whether certain genes in this interval were differentially expressed between the wing pattern elements, and, therefore, potentially responsible for adaptive color pattern variation in these butterflies.
Project description:The MALAT1 (Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1) gene encodes a non-coding RNA that is processed into a long nuclear retained transcript (MALAT1) and a small cytoplasmic tRNA-like transcript (mascRNA). Using a RNA sequence- and structure-based covariance model, we identified more than 130 genomic loci in vertebrate genomes containing the MALAT1 3’-end triple helix structure and its immediate downstream tRNA-like structure, including 44 in the green lizard Anolis carolinensis. Structural and computational analyses revealed a coevolution of the 3’-end module. MALAT1-like genes in Anolis carolinensis are highly expressed in adult testis, thus we named them testis-abundant long noncoding RNAs (tancRNAs). TancRNA loci produce multiple small RNA species, including piRNAs, from the antisense strand. The coevolved 3’-end of tancRNAs serve as potential targets for the PIWI-piRNA complex. Thus, we have identified an evolutionarily conserved class of lncRNAs with similar structural constraints, post-transcriptional processing, subcellular localization and a distinct function in spermatocytes.
Project description:The morphologies of the amniote phallus and limbs differ dramatically, but these structures share signaling pathways and patterns of gene expression in early development. Thus far, the extent to which genital and limb transcriptional networks share cis-regulatory elements has remained unexplored. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation with an antibody against the histone modification mark H3K27ac followed by Illumina high-throughput sequencing, we identify thousands of active enhancers in developing limbs, genital tubercle, and additional embryonic tissues of the mouse and green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis). We show in global analyses of cis-regulatory activity that embryonic limbs and genitalia display overlapping patterns of enhancer activity, and that many H3K27ac-marked regions are shared between mouse and green anole. Our findings support the hypothesis that the amniote phallus evolved through co-option of a preexisting appendage developmental program.