Comparative analysis of five immunity-related genes reveals different levels of adaptive evolution in the virilis and melanogaster groups of Drosophila

Morales‐Hojas, Ramiro; Vieira, Cristina; Reis, Micael; Vieira, Jorge

doi:10.1038/hdy.2009.11

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This is consistent with results from a previous study that found few associations between expression of immune response genes and bacterial loads in Drosophila (Sackton et al 2010). Genes involved in regulating the immune response to infection have been shown to be under strong directional and purifying selection in many organisms (Oliver et al 2010;Alcaide and Edwards 2011;Tschirren et al 2011;Voolstra et al 2011), including Drosophila (Schlenke and Begun 2003;Lazzaro 2008;Morales-Hojas et al 2009;Obbard et al 2009). We suspect that expression of these genes would also be under strong selection and so limit genetically based variation in the transcriptional response to infection.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Age-Specific Variation in Immune Response inDrosophila melanogasterHas a Genetic Basis

et al. 2012

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Immunosenescence, the age-related decline in immune system function, is a general hallmark of aging. While much is known about the cellular and physiological changes that accompany immunosenescence, we know little about the genetic influences on this phenomenon. In this study we combined age-specific measurements of bacterial clearance ability following infection with whole-genome measurements of the transcriptional response to infection and wounding to identify genes that contribute to the natural variation in immunosenescence, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Twenty inbred lines derived from nature were measured for their ability to clear an Escherichia coli infection at 1 and 4 weeks of age. We used microarrays to simultaneously determine genome-wide expression profiles in infected and wounded flies at each age for 12 of these lines. Lines exhibited significant genetically based variation in bacterial clearance at both ages; however, the genetic basis of this variation changed dramatically with age. Variation in gene expression was significantly correlated with bacterial clearance ability only in the older age group. At 4 weeks of age variation in the expression of 247 genes following infection was associated with genetic variation in bacterial clearance. Functional annotation analyses implicate genes involved in energy metabolism including those in the insulin signaling/TOR pathway as having significant associations with bacterial clearance in older individuals. Given the evolutionary conservation of the genes involved in energy metabolism, our results could have important implications for understanding immunosenescence in other organisms, including humans.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Age-Specific Variation in Immune Response inDrosophila melanogasterHas a Genetic Basis

et al. 2012

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“…This phylogenetic analysis is the first attempt to date the divergence events of the main lineages of this group of organisms using a relaxed molecular clock approach. Therefore, the results of the present study will be relevant for many research areas because the subgenus Drosophila includes some of the best-studied model organisms in ecological and evolutionary research [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28]. Based on the obtained phylogeny, and taking into account topological and dating uncertainties, we have reconstructed the ancestral states for the species’ geographic distribution and ecological resource use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic Patterns of Geographical and Ecological Diversification in the Subgenus Drosophila

Morales‐Hojas

Vieira

2012

PLoS ONE

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Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. Members of the subgenus Drosophila are distributed across the globe and show a large diversity of ecological niches. Furthermore, taxonomic classification of Drosophila includes the rank radiation, which refers to closely related species groups. Nevertheless, it has never been tested if these taxonomic radiations correspond to evolutionary radiations. Here we present a study of the patterns of diversification of Drosophila to test for increased diversification rates in relation to the geographic and ecological diversification processes. For this, we have estimated and dated a phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups of the subgenus. The obtained phylogenies are largely consistent with previous studies and indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene/Miocene transition or early Miocene, characterized by a trend of climate warming with brief periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropical disribution, and several transitions to specialized ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic). Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. However, diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift. Also, cactophily has not resulted in an increase in the diversification rate of the repleta and related groups. It is thus concluded that the taxonomic radiations do not correspond to adaptive radiations.

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“…have found an unexpectedly high degree of polymorphism in several genes [36]. Since not much is known about the identities of the observed peaks in the mass spectra, it may also be possible that the corresponding peptides constitute a subset of the proteome that may have been subject to selection pressures, such as sexual selection or particular immunological challenges, which favored the emergence of polymorphisms at an unexpectedly high level [37-40]. In order to confirm such a possibility, though, comprehensive genetic analyses will have to be performed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination of different species from the genus Drosophila by intact protein profiling using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry

et al. 2010

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BackgroundThe use of molecular biology-based methods for species identification and establishing phylogenetic relationships has supplanted traditional methods relying on morphological characteristics. While PCR-based methods are now the commonly accepted gold standards for these types of analysis, relatively high costs, time-consuming assay development or the need for a priori information about species-specific sequences constitute major limitations. In the present study, we explored the possibility to differentiate between 13 different species from the genus Drosophila via a molecular proteomic approach.ResultsAfter establishing a simple protein extraction procedure and performing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) with intact proteins and peptides, we could show that most of the species investigated reproducibly yielded mass spectra that were adequate for species classification. Furthermore, a dendrogram generated by cluster analysis of total protein patterns agrees reasonably well with established phylogenetic relationships.ConclusionConsidering the intra- and interspecies similarities and differences between spectra obtained for specimens of closely related Drosophila species, we estimate that species typing of insects and possibly other multicellular organisms by intact protein profiling (IPP) can be established successfully for species that diverged from a common ancestor about 3 million years ago.

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Comparative analysis of five immunity-related genes reveals different levels of adaptive evolution in the virilis and melanogaster groups of Drosophila

Cited by 15 publications

References 28 publications

Age-Specific Variation in Immune Response inDrosophila melanogasterHas a Genetic Basis

Age-Specific Variation in Immune Response inDrosophila melanogasterHas a Genetic Basis

Phylogenetic Patterns of Geographical and Ecological Diversification in the Subgenus Drosophila

Discrimination of different species from the genus Drosophila by intact protein profiling using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry

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