Project description:Fruit flies were maintained either 40% sugar or 5% sugar diets for one week, then on 5% sugar for one further week. Whole flies were sampled at the end of weeks 1 and week 2. Persistent effects of past high sugar diets are identified.
Project description:Here, we present the results of an integrative study that leverages naturally segregating variation and a recent, adaptive divergence event affecting seasonal timing to identify developmental mechanisms underlying diapause progression in a tephritid fly, Rhagoletis pomonella. Also called the apple maggot fly, R. pomonella is native to North America, where it infests fruits of native Crataegus (hawthorn) species throughout its range. Derived populations of the fly infest apples (Malus domesticus), and thus have evolved in the last ~250 years since apples were introduced. Many molecular studies in conjunction with mark-recapture experiments document that the populations, or host races, remain genetically distinct despite ongoing gene flow, making R. pomonella a textbook example of incipient speciation with gene flow and host associated divergence. Strong natural selection on two primary traits, host finding behavior and seasonal timing, maintain genetic divergence. Both populations (hereafter apple and haw flies) have one generation per year, with a functionally obligate pupal diapause, overwintering in the soil. Adults must emerge coincident with host fruit availability, typically a period of only a few weeks, in order to successfully oviposit into fruits. Apple flies have evolved an earlier (~3 week) emergence timing to synchronize with apples, which fruit about 3 weeks earlier than hawthorn at a typical, sympatric site in the Midwest (e.g., Michigan or Illinois, USA). We combined RNA sequencing (RNAseq), phenotyping of emergence timing and brain morphology, and whole genome pooled resequencing (Poolseq) to infer mechanisms underlying segregating variation for diapause phenology in each Rhagoletic pomonella host race, and the evolved difference in phenology between host races.
Project description:Fragaria vesca, a diploid woodland strawberry with a small and sequenced genome, is an excellent model for studying fruit development. The strawberry fruit is unique in that the edible flesh is actually enlarged receptacle tissue. The true fruit are the numerous dry achenes dotting the receptacleM-^Rs surface. Auxin produced from the achene is essential for the receptacle fruit set, a paradigm for studying crosstalk between hormone signaling and development. To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying strawberry fruit set, next-generation sequencing was employed to profile early-stage fruit development with five fruit tissue types and five developmental stages from floral anthesis to enlarged fruits. This two-dimensional data set provides a systems-level view of molecular events with precise spatial and temporal resolution.
Project description:Whole-genome resequencing of eight transcription factor mutants and one wild-type, in order to verify the T-DNA insertion site and its uniqueness.
Project description:Drosophila sechellia is an island endemic host specialist that has evolved to consume the toxic fruit of Morinda citrifolia, also known as noni fruit. Recent studies by our group and others have examined genome-wide gene expression responses of fruit flies to individual highly abundant compounds found in noni responsible for the fruit’s unique chemistry and toxicity. In order to relate these reductionist experiments to the gene expression responses to feeding on noni fruit itself, we fed rotten noni fruit to adult female D. sechellia and performed RNA-sequencing. Combining the reductionist and more wholistic approaches, we have identified candidate genes that may contribute to each individual compound and those that play a more general role in response to the fruit as a whole. Using the compound specific and general responses, we used transcription factor prediction analyses to identify the regulatory networks and specific regulators involved in the responses to each compound and the fruit itself. The identified genes and regulators represent the possible genetic mechanisms and biochemical pathways that contribute to toxin resistance and noni specialization in D. sechellia.