Related papers: Sex-specific ultraviolet radiation tolerance acros…
Chromosomal rearrangements, particularly those mediated by transposable elements (TEs), can drive adaptive evolution by creating chimeric genes, inducing de novo gene formation, or altering gene expression. Here, we investigate…
Gene expression levels are important molecular quantitative traits that link genotypes to molecular functions and fitness. In Drosophila, population-genetic studies in recent years have revealed substantial adaptive evolution at the genomic…
Tandem duplications are an essential source of genetic novelty, and their variation in natural populations is expected to influence adaptive walks. Here, we describe evolutionary impacts of recently-derived, segregating tandem duplications…
The fruit fly Drosophila is a classic model organism to study adaptation as well as the relationship between genetic variation and phenotypes. Although associated bacterial communities might be important for many aspects of Drosophila…
Here, we provide revised gene models for D. ananassae, D. yakuba, and D. simulans, which include UTRs and empirically verified intron-exon boundaries, as well as ortholog groups identified using a fuzzy reciprocal-best-hit blast comparison.…
The origins of new genes are among the most fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. Our understanding of the ways that new genetic material appears and how that genetic material shapes population variation remains incomplete. De novo…
The origin of new genes is among the most fundamental processes underlying genetic innovation. The substrate of new genetic material available defines the outcomes of evolutionary processes in nature. Historically, the field of genetic…
Drosophila melanogaster, a small dipteran of African origin, represents one of the best-studied model organisms. Early work in this system has uniquely shed light on the basic principles of genetics and resulted in a versatile collection of…
Recent studies have consistently inferred high rates of adaptive molecular evolution between Drosophila species. At the same time, the Drosophila genome evolves under different rates of recombination, which results in partial genetic…
We have used whole genome paired-end Illumina sequence data to identify tandem duplications in 20 isofemale lines of D. yakuba, and 20 isofemale lines of D. simulans and performed genome wide validation with PacBio long molecule sequencing.…
In many species, genomic data have revealed pervasive adaptive evolution indicated by the fixation of beneficial alleles. However, when selection pressures are highly variable along a species range or through time adaptive alleles may…
Zooplankton have evolved several mechanisms to deal with environmental threats, such as ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and in order to identify strategies inherent to organisms exposed to different UVR environments, we here examine…
How adaptive evolution to one environmental stress improves or suppresses adaptation to another is an important problem in evolutionary biology. For instance, in microbiology, the evolution of bacteria to be resistant to different…
Generally, genotypes and phenotypes are expected to be spatially congruent, however, in widespread species complexes with few barriers to dispersal, multiple contact zones, and limited reproductive isolation, discordance between phenotypes…
Behavioural phenotyping of Drosophila is an important means in biological and medical research to identify genetic, pathologic or psychologic impact on animal behaviour.
The X chromosome is present as a single copy in the heterogametic sex, and this hemizygosity is expected to drive unusual patterns of evolution on the X relative to the autosomes. For example, the hemizgosity of the X may lead to a lower…
The rate of recombination affects the mode of molecular evolution. In high-recombining sequence, the targets of selection are individual genetic loci; under low recombination, selection collectively acts on large, genetically linked genomic…
While most processes in biology are highly deterministic, stochastic mechanisms are sometimes used to increase cellular diversity, such as in the specification of sensory receptors. In the human and Drosophila eye, photoreceptors sensitive…
In addition to natural selection, adaptive evolution requires genetic variation to proceed. Yet the G-matrix may have limited 'genetic degrees of freedom', with certain combinations of trait values unavailable to evolution. Such limitations…
Drosophila Y chromosomes are composed entirely of silent heterochromatin, while male X chromosomes have highly accessible chromatin and are hypertranscribed due to dosage compensation. Here, we dissect the molecular mechanisms and…