Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| complex patterns of local adaptation in heat tolerance in drosophila simulans from eastern australia. | latitudinal clines are considered a powerful means of investigating evolutionary responses to climatic selection in nature. however, most clinal studies of climatic adaptation in drosophila have involved species that contain cosmopolitan inversion polymorphisms that show clinal patterns themselves, making it difficult to determine whether the traits or inversions are under selection. further, although climatic selection is unlikely to act on only one life stage in metamorphic organisms, a few st ... | 2012 | 22775577 |
| cis- and trans-acting genetic factors contribute to heterogeneity in the rate of crossing over between the drosophila simulans clade species. | in the genus drosophila, variation in recombination rates has been found within and between species. genetic variation for both cis- and trans-acting factors has been shown to affect recombination rates within species, but little is known about the genetic factors that affect differences between species. here, we estimate rates of crossing over for seven segments that tile across the euchromatic length of the x chromosome in the genetic backgrounds of three closely related drosophila species. we ... | 2012 | 22817673 |
| genetic dissection of nucleoporin 160 (nup160), a gene involved in multiple phenotypes of reproductive isolation in drosophila. | previous reports have suggested that the nucleoporin 160 (nup160) gene of drosophila simulans (nup160(sim)) causes the hybrid inviability, female sterility, and morphological anomalies that are observed in crosses with d. melanogaster. here we have confirmed this observation by transposon excision from the p{ep}nup160(ep372) insertion mutation of d. melanogaster. null mutations of the nup160 gene resulted in the three phenotypes caused by nup160(sim), but revertants of the gene did not. interest ... | 2012 | 22820383 |
| disruption of redox homeostasis leads to oxidative dna damage in spermatocytes of wolbachia-infected drosophila simulans. | molecular interactions between symbiotic bacteria and their animal hosts are, as yet, poorly understood. the most widespread bacterial endosymbiont, wolbachia pipientis, occurs in high density in testes of infected drosophila simulans and causes cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), a form of male-derived zygotic lethality. wolbachia grow and divide within host vacuoles that generate reactive oxygen species (ros), which in turn stimulate the up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes. these enzymes appear ... | 2012 | 22831171 |
| antiviral protection and the importance of wolbachia density and tissue tropism in drosophila simulans. | wolbachia, a maternally transmitted endosymbiont of insects, is increasingly being seen as an effective biological control agent that can interfere with transmission of pathogens, including dengue virus. however, the mechanism of antiviral protection is not well understood. the density and distribution of wolbachia in host tissues have been implicated as contributing factors by previous studies with both mosquitoes and flies. drosophila flies infected with five diverse strains of wolbachia were ... | 2012 | 22843518 |
| an indel polymorphism in the hybrid incompatibility gene lethal hybrid rescue of drosophila is functionally relevant. | hybrid incompatibility (hi) genes are frequently observed to be rapidly evolving under selection. this observation has led to the attractive conjecture that selection-derived protein-sequence divergence is culpable for incompatibilities in hybrids. the drosophila simulans hi gene lethal hybrid rescue (lhr) is an intriguing case, because despite having experienced rapid sequence evolution, its hi properties are a shared function inherited from the ancestral state. using an unusual d. simulans lhr ... | 2012 | 22865735 |
| interspecific competition between drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans: temperature effect on competitive ability and fitness components. | 1983 | 22879131 | |
| variable outcome in competition experiments between drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans. | 1986 | 22879228 | |
| endemic microorganisms of a drosophila simulans strain and their relationships with the non-mendelian transmission of a character. | 1986 | 22879238 | |
| sexual isolation between drosophila melanogaster females and drosophila simulans males. i - relation between homospecific and heterospecific mating success. | 1987 | 22879269 | |
| linkage disequilibrium between enzymatic loci in natural populations of drosophila simulans. | 1988 | 22879302 | |
| loss of reproductive parasitism following transfer of male-killing wolbachia to drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans. | wolbachia manipulate insect host biology through a variety of means that result in increased production of infected females, enhancing its own transmission. a wolbachia strain (winn) naturally infecting drosophila innubila induces male killing, while native strains of d. melanogaster and d. simulans usually induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci). in this study, we transferred winn to d. melanogaster and d. simulans by embryonic microinjection, expecting conservation of the male-killing phenotyp ... | 2012 | 22892635 |
| wolbachia gonadal density in female and male drosophila vary with laboratory adaptation and respond differently to physiological and environmental challenges. | in symbiotic associations such as those between wolbachia and insects, the within-host symbiont density plays an important role in the maintenance of the infection in natural populations, as it relates to transmission fidelity and pathogenicity of the symbiont. within-host density is speculated to be the result of complex interactions between the bacterial genotype, the host genotype and the environment, which may account for the substantial variation in wolbachia titres among wild collected ind ... | 2012 | 22903036 |
| a second-generation assembly of the drosophila simulans genome provides new insights into patterns of lineage-specific divergence. | we create a new assembly of the drosophila simulans genome using 142 million paired short-read sequences and previously published data for strain w(501). our assembly represents a higher-quality genomic sequence with greater coverage, fewer misassemblies, and, by several indexes, fewer sequence errors. evolutionary analysis of this genome reference sequence reveals interesting patterns of lineage-specific divergence that are different from those previously reported. specifically, we find that dr ... | 2013 | 22936249 |
| using near-infrared spectroscopy to resolve the species, gender, age, and the presence of wolbachia infection in laboratory-reared drosophila. | the aim of the study was to determine the accuracy of near-infrared spectroscopy (nirs) in determining species, gender, age, and the presence of the common endosymbiont wolbachia in laboratory-reared drosophila. nirs measures the absorption of light by organic molecules. initially, a calibration model was developed for each study. an independent set with flies not involved in initial cross-validation was then used to validate the accuracy of each calibration model. flies from the independent set ... | 2012 | 22973543 |
| transposable elements and insecticide resistance. | transposable elements (tes) are mobile dna sequences that are able to copy themselves within a host genome. they were initially characterized as selfish genes because of documented or presumed costs to host fitness, but it has become increasingly clear that not all tes reduce host fitness. a good example of tes benefiting hosts is seen with insecticide resistance, where in a number of cases, te insertions near specific genes confer resistance to these man-made products. this is particularly true ... | 2012 | 22980922 |
| paternal transmission of mitochondrial dna as an integral part of mitochondrial inheritance in metapopulations of drosophila simulans. | maternal inheritance is one of the hallmarks of animal mitochondrial dna (mtdna) and central to its success as a molecular marker. this mode of inheritance and subsequent lack of heterologous recombination allows us to retrace evolutionary relationships unambiguously down the matriline and without the confounding effects of recombinant genetic information. accumulating evidence of biparental inheritance of mtdna (paternal leakage), however, challenges our current understanding of how this molecu ... | 2013 | 23010820 |
| evidence for complex selection on four-fold degenerate sites in drosophila melanogaster. | we considered genome-wide four-fold degenerate sites from an african drosophila melanogaster population and compared them to short introns. to include divergence and to polarize the data, we used its close relatives drosophila simulans, drosophila sechellia, drosophila erecta and drosophila yakuba as outgroups. in d. melanogaster, the gc content at four-fold degenerate sites is higher than in short introns; compared to its relatives, more at than gc is fixed. the former has been explained by cod ... | 2012 | 23020078 |
| naturally occurring mitochondrial dna haplotypes exhibit metabolic differences: insight into functional properties of mitochondria. | linking the mitochondrial genotype and the organismal phenotype is of paramount importance in evolution of mitochondria. in this study, we determined the differences in catalytic properties of mitochondria dictated by divergences in the siii and siiii haplogroups of drosophila simulans using introgressions of siii mtdna type into the siiii nuclear background. we used a novel in situ method (permeabilized fibers) that allowed us to accurately measure the consumption of oxygen by mitochondria in c ... | 2012 | 23025608 |
| genome-wide patterns of natural variation reveal strong selective sweeps and ongoing genomic conflict in drosophila mauritiana. | although it is well understood that selection shapes the polymorphism pattern in drosophila, signatures of classic selective sweeps are scarce. here, we focus on drosophila mauritiana, an island endemic, which is closely related to drosophila melanogaster. based on a new, annotated genome sequence, we characterized the genome-wide polymorphism by sequencing pooled individuals (pool-seq). we show that the interplay between selection and recombination results in a genome-wide polymorphism pattern ... | 2013 | 23051690 |
| divergence of water balance mechanisms in two sibling species (drosophila simulans and d. melanogaster): effects of growth temperatures. | drosophila simulans is more abundant under colder and drier montane habitats in the western himalayas as compared to its sibling d. melanogaster but the mechanistic bases of such climatic adaptations are largely unknown. previous studies have described d. simulans as a desiccation sensitive species which is inconsistent with its occurrence in temperate regions. we tested the hypothesis whether developmental plasticity of cuticular traits confers adaptive changes in water balance-related traits i ... | 2013 | 23080219 |
| infection, growth and maintenance of wolbachia pipientis in clonal and non-clonal aedes albopictus cell cultures. | insect cell lines provide useful in vitro models for studying biological systems, including interactions between mosquitoes and obligate intracellular endosymbionts such as wolbachia pipientis. the aedes albopictus aa23 cell line was the first cell line developed to allow examination of wolbachia infections. however, wolbachia studies using aa23 can be complicated by the presence of different cell types in the cell line and the substantial temporal variation in infection level. two approaches we ... | 2013 | 23113940 |
| adaptive evolution and the birth of ctcf binding sites in the drosophila genome. | changes in the physical interaction between cis-regulatory dna sequences and proteins drive the evolution of gene expression. however, it has proven difficult to accurately quantify evolutionary rates of such binding change or to estimate the relative effects of selection and drift in shaping the binding evolution. here we examine the genome-wide binding of ctcf in four species of drosophila separated by between ∼2.5 and 25 million years. ctcf is a highly conserved protein known to be associated ... | 2012 | 23139640 |
| male pheromone polymorphism and reproductive isolation in populations of drosophila simulans. | the dominant cuticular hydrocarbons (hc) in drosophila simulans are 7-tricosene (7-t) and 7-pentacosene (7-p). the 7-t is the major hc in east africa and in other continents. in west africa, d. simulans is very rare and displays 7-p as the major compound. we studied three d. simulans strains from egypt (eg), sao-tome (st), and cameroon (cam), with 7-t, intermediary or 7-p phenotypes. hc profiles of st and cam female differed slightly from corresponding male profiles; females had more 7-t and les ... | 2012 | 23145337 |
| phototactic personality in fruit flies and its suppression by serotonin and white. | drosophila typically move toward light (phototax positively) when startled. the various species of drosophila exhibit some variation in their respective mean phototactic behaviors; however, it is not clear to what extent genetically identical individuals within each species behave idiosyncratically. such behavioral individuality has indeed been observed in laboratory arthropods; however, the neurobiological factors underlying individual-to-individual behavioral differences are unknown. we develo ... | 2012 | 23150588 |
| genotype-by-environment interactions for cuticular hydrocarbon expression in drosophila simulans. | genotype-by-environment interactions (g × es) describe genetic variation for phenotypic plasticity. recent interest in the role of these interactions in sexual selection has identified g × es across a diverse range of species and sexual traits. additionally, theoretical work predicts that g × es in sexual traits could help to maintain genetic variation, but could also disrupt the reliability of these traits as signals of mate quality. however, empirical tests of these theoretical predictions are ... | 2013 | 23163514 |
| heritability of male attractiveness persists despite evidence for unreliable sexual signals in drosophila simulans. | sexual signals can be used to attract mates, but to be honest indicators of signaller quality they need to convey information reliably. however, environmental variation and genotype-by-environment (g × e) interactions have the potential to compromise the reliability of sexual signals. here, we test the reliability of cuticular hydrocarbons (chcs) as signals of heritable aspects of male attractiveness in drosophila simulans. we examined the heritability of male attractiveness and a measure of the ... | 2013 | 23206188 |
| a population genetic model for the maintenance of r2 retrotransposons in rrna gene loci. | r2 retrotransposable elements exclusively insert into the tandemly repeated rrna genes, the rdna loci, of their animal hosts. r2 elements form stable long-term associations with their host, in which all individuals in a population contain many potentially active copies, but only a fraction of these individuals show active r2 retrotransposition. previous studies have found that r2 rna transcripts are processed from a 28s co-transcript and that the likelihood of r2-inserted units being transcribed ... | 2013 | 23326244 |
| optimal temperature range of a plastic species, drosophila simulans. | 1. when a species experiences a new climate, it can adapt in two main ways: become genetically adapted to the new temperature, or adopt a plastic approach that allows it to survive at a range of temperatures. 2. the constraint on fitness for genetically adapted populations that are exposed to a new temperature has been well studied, but the range of optimal temperatures and their effect on fitness has never been examined across the worldwide distribution of a plastic species. 3. here, we determi ... | 2013 | 23360477 |
| witnessing phenotypic and molecular evolution in the fruit fly. | this multi-day exercise is designed for a college genetics and evolution laboratory to demonstrate concepts of inheritance and phenotypic and molecular evolution using a live model organism, drosophila simulans. students set up an experimental fruit fly population consisting of ten white eyed flies and one red eyed fly. having red eyes is advantageous compared to having white eyes, allowing students to track the spread of this advantageous trait over several generations. ultimately, the students ... | 2012 | 23459154 |
| mapping wolbachia distributions in the adult drosophila brain. | the maternally inherited bacterium wolbachia infects the germline of most arthropod species. using drosophila simulans and d. melanogaster, we demonstrate that localization of wolbachia to the fat bodies and adult brain is likely also a conserved feature of wolbachia infection. examination of three wolbachia strains (wmel , wriv , wpop ) revealed that the bacteria preferentially concentrate in the central brain with low titres in the optic lobes. distribution within regions of the central brain ... | 2013 | 23490256 |
| multivariate analysis of adaptive capacity for upper thermal limits in drosophila simulans. | thermal tolerance is an important factor influencing the distribution of ectotherms, but our understanding of the ability of species to evolve different thermal limits is limited. based on univariate measures of adaptive capacity, it has recently been suggested that species may have limited evolutionary potential to extend their upper thermal limits under ramping temperature conditions that better reflect heat stress in nature. to test these findings more broadly, we used a paternal half-sibling ... | 2013 | 23517493 |
| edge-interior differences in the species richness and abundance of drosophilids in a semideciduous forest fragment. | habitat fragmentation is the main cause of biodiversity loss, as remnant fragments are exposed to negative influences that include edge effects, prevention of migration, declines in effective population sizes, loss of genetic variability and invasion of exotic species. the drosophilidae (diptera), especially species of the genus drosophila, which are highly sensitive to environmental variation, have been used as bioindicators. a twelve-month field study was conducted to evaluate the abundance an ... | 2013 | 23556146 |
| natural variation of the y chromosome suppresses sex ratio distortion and modulates testis-specific gene expression in drosophila simulans. | x-linked sex-ratio distorters that disrupt spermatogenesis can cause a deficiency in functional y-bearing sperm and a female-biased sex ratio. y-linked modifiers that restore a normal sex ratio might be abundant and favored when a x-linked distorter is present. here we investigated natural variation of y-linked suppressors of sex-ratio in the winters systems and the ability of these chromosomes to modulate gene expression in drosophila simulans. seventy-eight y chromosomes of worldwide origin we ... | 2013 | 23591516 |
| comparative genomics of wolbachia and the bacterial species concept. | the importance of host-specialization to speciation processes in obligate host-associated bacteria is well known, as is also the ability of recombination to generate cohesion in bacterial populations. however, whether divergent strains of highly recombining intracellular bacteria, such as wolbachia, can maintain their genetic distinctness when infecting the same host is not known. we first developed a protocol for the genome sequencing of uncultivable endosymbionts. using this method, we have se ... | 2013 | 23593012 |
| sexual and natural selection both influence male genital evolution. | rapid and divergent evolution of male genital morphology is a conspicuous and general pattern across internally fertilizing animals. rapid genital evolution is thought to be the result of sexual selection, and the role of natural selection in genital evolution remains controversial. however, natural and sexual selection are believed to act antagonistically on male genital form. we conducted an experimental evolution study to investigate the combined effects of natural and sexual selection on the ... | 2013 | 23717488 |
| modelling a wolbachia invasion using a slow-fast dispersal reaction-diffusion approach. | this paper uses a reaction-diffusion approach to examine the dynamics in the spread of a wolbachia infection within a population of mosquitoes in a homogeneous environment. the formulated model builds upon an earlier model by skalski and gilliam (am. nat. 161(3):441-458, 2003), which incorporates a slow and fast dispersal mode. this generates a faster wavespeed than previous reaction-diffusion approaches, which have been found to produce wavespeeds that are unrealistically slow when compared wit ... | 2013 | 23756849 |
| genetic and developmental analysis of differences in eye and face morphology between drosophila simulans and drosophila mauritiana. | eye and head morphology vary considerably among insects and even between closely related species of drosophila. species of the d. melanogaster subgroup, and other drosophila species, exhibit a negative correlation between eye size and face width (fw); for example, d. mauritiana generally has bigger eyes composed of larger ommatidia and conversely a narrower face than its sibling species. to better understand the evolution of eye and head morphology, we investigated the genetic and developmental ... | 2017 | 23809700 |
| genotype-by-environment interactions for female mate choice of male cuticular hydrocarbons in drosophila simulans. | recent research has highlighted the potential importance of environmental and genotype-by-environment (g×e) variation in sexual selection, but most studies have focussed on the expression of male sexual traits. consequently, our understanding of genetic variation for plasticity in female mate choice is extremely poor. in this study we examine the genetics of female mate choice in drosophila simulans using isolines reared across two post-eclosion temperatures. there was evidence for g×es in femal ... | 2013 | 23825675 |
| a selective sweep across species boundaries in drosophila. | adaptive mutations that accumulate during species divergence are likely to contribute to reproductive incompatibilities and hinder gene flow; however, there may also be a class of mutations that are generally advantageous and can spread across species boundaries. in this study, we characterize a 15 kb region on chromosome 3r that has introgressed from the cosmopolitan generalist species drosophila simulans into the island endemic d. sechellia, which is an ecological specialist. the introgressed ... | 2013 | 23827876 |
| elimination of y chromosome-bearing spermatids during spermiogenesis in an autosomal sex-ratio mutant of drosophila simulans. | sex ratio distortion, which is commonly abbreviated as sex-ratio, has been studied in many drosophila species, but the mechanism remains largely unknown. here, we report on the sex-ratio mutant of d. simulans named excess of females (exf). the third chromosomal recessive mutation results in a sex ratio of approximately 0.2 or less (males/total). cytological observation demonstrated that meiosis appeared to be completed normally, but that most y chromosome-bearing nuclei failed to elongate during ... | 2013 | 23832303 |
| genetic analysis of mate discrimination in drosophila simulans. | courtship is an elaborate behavior that conveys information about the identity of animal species and suitability of individual males as mates. in drosophila, there is extensive evidence that females are capable of evaluating and comparing male courtships, and accepting or rejecting males as mates. these relatively simple responses minimize random sexual encounters involving subpar conspecific males and heterospecific males, and over generations can potentially select novel physical and behaviora ... | 2013 | 23888855 |
| rapid diversification of sperm precedence traits and processes among three sibling drosophila species. | postcopulatory sexual selection is credited with driving rapid evolutionary diversification of reproductive traits and the formation of reproductive isolating barriers between species. this judgment, however, has largely been inferred rather than demonstrated due to general lack of knowledge about processes and traits underlying variation in competitive fertilization success. here, we resolved processes determining sperm fate in twice-mated females, using transgenic drosophila simulans and droso ... | 2013 | 23888856 |
| more accurate phylogenies inferred from low-recombination regions in the presence of incomplete lineage sorting. | when speciation events occur in rapid succession, incomplete lineage sorting (ils) can cause disagreement among individual gene trees. the probability that ils affects a given locus is directly related to its effective population size (ne ), which in turn is proportional to the recombination rate if there is strong selection across the genome. based on these expectations, we hypothesized that low-recombination regions of the genome, as well as sex chromosomes and nonrecombining chromosomes, shou ... | 2013 | 23888858 |
| drosophilid assemblages at different urbanization levels in the city of porto alegre, state of rio grande do sul, southern brazil. | the present study analyzed the drosophilid assemblages in different levels of urbanization in the city of porto alegre, rio grande do sul, brazil. collections were carried out in 2008 in three different environments: a highly urbanized area-"jardim botânico," a forested area with intermediary urbanization-"parque gabriel knijnik," and in a relatively well-preserved forested area, although threatened by the urban growth-"morro santana." in jardim botânico, 36 species belonging to four genera were ... | 2012 | 23950007 |
| pupariation site preference within and between drosophila sibling species. | holometabolous insects pass through a sedentary pupal stage and often choose a location for pupation that is different from the site of larval feeding. we have characterized a difference in pupariation site choice within and between sibling species of drosophila. we found that, in nature, drosophila sechellia pupariate within their host fruit, morinda citrifolia, and that they perform this behavior in laboratory assays. in contrast, in the laboratory, geographically diverse strains of drosophila ... | 2013 | 24033178 |
| a novel approach identifying hybrid sterility qtl on the autosomes of drosophila simulans and d. mauritiana. | when species interbreed, the hybrid offspring that are produced are often sterile. if only one hybrid sex is sterile, it is almost always the heterogametic (xy or zw) sex. taking this trend into account, the predominant model used to explain the genetic basis of f1 sterility involves a deleterious interaction between recessive sex-linked loci from one species and dominant autosomal loci from the other species. this model is difficult to evaluate, however, as only a handful of loci influencing in ... | 2013 | 24039910 |
| the roles of cis- and trans-regulation in the evolution of regulatory incompatibilities and sexually dimorphic gene expression. | evolutionary changes in gene expression underlie many aspects of phenotypic diversity within and among species. understanding the genetic basis for evolved changes in gene expression is therefore an important component of a comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypic evolution. using interspecific introgression hybrids, we examined the genetic basis for divergence in genome-wide patterns of gene expression between drosophila simulans and drosophila mauritiana. we find that cis ... | 2014 | 24043293 |
| rapid sequential spread of two wolbachia variants in drosophila simulans. | the maternally inherited intracellular bacteria wolbachia can manipulate host reproduction in various ways that foster frequency increases within and among host populations. manipulations involving cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), where matings between infected males and uninfected females produce non-viable embryos, are common in arthropods and produce a reproductive advantage for infected females. ci was associated with the spread of wolbachia variant wri in californian populations of drosoph ... | 2013 | 24068927 |
| stress-induced plastic responses in drosophila simulans following exposure to combinations of temperature and humidity levels. | plastic responses to heat and desiccation stress in insects have been studied in many laboratory experiments on drosophila. however, in these studies the possible interaction between the corresponding stress factors in natural environments has not been taken into consideration. we investigated changes in heat and desiccation resistance of adult drosophila simulans after short-term exposures to different temperatures (35, 31 and 18°c) in combination with high and low relative humidity (ca. 90 and ... | 2013 | 24072792 |
| postcopulatory sexual selection generates speciation phenotypes in drosophila. | identifying traits that reproductively isolate species, and the selective forces underlying their divergence, is a central goal of evolutionary biology and speciation research. there is growing recognition that postcopulatory sexual selection, which can drive rapid diversification of interacting ejaculate and female reproductive tract traits that mediate sperm competition, may be an engine of speciation. conspecific sperm precedence (csp) is a taxonomically widespread form of reproductive isolat ... | 2013 | 24076241 |
| selectivity and plasticity in a sound-evoked male-male interaction in drosophila. | during courtship, many animals, including insects, birds, fish, and mammals, utilize acoustic signals to transmit information about species identity. although auditory communication is crucial across phyla, the neuronal and physiologic processes are poorly understood. sound-evoked chaining behavior, a display of homosexual courtship behavior in drosophila males, has long been used as an excellent model for analyzing auditory behavior responses, outcomes of acoustic perception and higher-order br ... | 2013 | 24086330 |
| local dynamics of a fast-evolving sex-ratio system in drosophila simulans. | by distorting mendelian transmission to their own advantage, x-linked meiotic drive elements can rapidly spread in natural populations, generating a sex-ratio bias. one expected consequence is the triggering of a co-evolutionary arms race between the sex chromosome that carries the distorter and suppressors counteracting its effect. such an arms race has been theoretically and experimentally established and can have many evolutionary consequences. however, its dynamics in contemporary population ... | 2013 | 24118375 |
| contribution of the x chromosome to a marked reduction in lifespan in interspecies female hybrids of drosophila simulans and d. mauritiana. | when two species come into contact and interbreed, the production of unfit hybrids can limit or prevent gene flow between the populations, thus maintaining each species' separate identity. the genetic basis of this hybrid dysfunction has recently begun to be elucidated, particularly for hybrid sterility and inviability. although these dysfunctions can certainly act as a barrier to gene flow, other post-zygotic barriers may also play an important role in isolating species from one another. this s ... | 2014 | 24118420 |
| the impact of wolbachia, male age and mating history on cytoplasmic incompatibility and sperm transfer in drosophila simulans. | most insects harbour a variety of maternally inherited endosymbionts, the most widespread being wolbachia pipientis that commonly induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci) and reduced hatching success in crosses between infected males and uninfected females. high temperature and increasing male age are known to reduce the level of ci in a variety of insects. in drosophila simulans, infected males have been shown to mate at a higher rate than uninfected males. by examining the impact of mating rate ... | 2014 | 24164708 |
| a pair of centromeric proteins mediates reproductive isolation in drosophila species. | speciation involves the reproductive isolation of natural populations due to the sterility or lethality of their hybrids. however, the molecular basis of hybrid lethality and the evolutionary driving forces that provoke it remain largely elusive. the hybrid male rescue (hmr) and the lethal hybrid rescue (lhr) genes serve as a model to study speciation in drosophilids because their interaction causes lethality in male hybrid offspring. here, we show that hmr and lhr form a centromeric complex nec ... | 2013 | 24239514 |
| variation of gene expression associated with colonisation of an anthropized environment: comparison between african and european populations of drosophila simulans. | the comparison of transcriptome profiles among populations is a powerful tool for investigating the role of gene expression change in adaptation to new environments. in this study, we use massively parallel sequencing of 3' cdnas obtained from large samples of adult males, to compare a population of drosophila simulans from a natural reserve within its ancestral range (eastern africa) with a derived population collected in the strongly anthropized rhône valley (france). the goal was to scan for ... | 2013 | 24260296 |
| comparative gene expression analysis of dtg, a novel target gene of dpp signaling pathway in the early drosophila melanogaster embryo. | in the early drosophila melanogaster embryo, dpp, a secreted molecule that belongs to the tgf-β superfamily of growth factors, activates a set of downstream genes to subdivide the dorsal region into amnioserosa and dorsal epidermis. here, we examined the expression pattern and transcriptional regulation of dtg, a new target gene of dpp signaling pathway that is required for proper amnioserosa differentiation. we showed that the expression of dtg was controlled by dpp and characterized a 524-bp e ... | 2014 | 24321690 |
| variable expression levels detected in the drosophila effectors of pirna biogenesis. | pirnas (piwi-interacting rnas) are a class of small interfering rnas that play a major role in the regulation of transposable elements (tes) in drosophila and are considered of fundamental importance in gonadal development. genes encoding the effectors of the pirna machinery are thus often thought to be highly constrained. on the contrary, as actors of genetic immunity, these genes have also been shown to evolve rapidly and display a high level of sequence variability. in order to assess the sup ... | 2014 | 24361206 |
| genomic regions harboring insecticide resistance-associated cyp genes are enriched by transposable element fragments carrying putative transcription factor binding sites in two sibling drosophila species. | in the present study, an in silico analysis was performed to identify transposable element (te) fragments inserted in cyps with functions associated with resistance to insecticides and developmental regulation as well as in neighboring genes in two sibling species, drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans. the cyps associated with insecticide resistance and their neighboring non-cyp genes have accumulated a greater number of te fragments than the other cyps or a random sample of genes, pr ... | 2014 | 24361809 |
| uncovering wolbachia diversity upon artificial host transfer. | the common endosymbiotic wolbachia bacteria influence arthropod hosts in multiple ways. they are mostly recognized for their manipulations of host reproduction, yet, more recent studies demonstrate that wolbachia also impact host behavior, metabolic pathways and immunity. besides their biological and evolutionary roles, wolbachia are new potential biological control agents for pest and vector management. importantly, wolbachia-based control strategies require controlled symbiont transfer between ... | 2013 | 24376534 |
| evolutionary changes in gene expression, coding sequence and copy-number at the cyp6g1 locus contribute to resistance to multiple insecticides in drosophila. | widespread use of insecticides has led to insecticide resistance in many populations of insects. in some populations, resistance has evolved to multiple pesticides. in drosophila melanogaster, resistance to multiple classes of insecticide is due to the overexpression of a single cytochrome p450 gene, cyp6g1. overexpression of cyp6g1 appears to have evolved in parallel in drosophila simulans, a sibling species of d. melanogaster, where it is also associated with insecticide resistance. however, i ... | 2014 | 24416303 |
| what can symbiont titres tell us about co-evolution of wolbachia and their host? | there is a long-standing prediction that associations with vertically transmitted symbionts evolve towards maximisation of host reproductive success, eventually leading to mutualist symbiosis and coadaptation. under this scenario, the regulation of symbiont titres in host tissues would be expected to be greater when partners have coevolved for a long time than when they have recently met. wolbachia pipientis, a common vertically transmitted symbiont of invertebrates, often has the capacity to sp ... | 2014 | 24594301 |
| what the x has to do with it: differences in regulatory variability between the sexes in drosophila simulans. | the mechanistic basis of regulatory variation and the prevailing evolutionary forces shaping that variation are known to differ between sexes and between chromosomes. regulatory variation of gene expression can be due to functional changes within a gene itself (cis) or in other genes elsewhere in the genome (trans). the evolutionary properties of cis mutations are expected to differ from mutations affecting gene expression in trans. we analyze allele-specific expression across a set of x substit ... | 2014 | 24696400 |
| landscape of standing variation for tandem duplications in drosophila yakuba and drosophila simulans. | we have used whole genome paired-end illumina sequence data to identify tandem duplications in 20 isofemale lines of drosophila yakuba and 20 isofemale lines of d. simulans and performed genome wide validation with pacbio long molecule sequencing. we identify 1,415 tandem duplications that are segregating in d. yakuba as well as 975 duplications in d. simulans, indicating greater variation in d. yakuba. additionally, we observe high rates of secondary deletions at duplicated sites, with 8% of du ... | 2014 | 24710518 |
| limited gene misregulation is exacerbated by allele-specific upregulation in lethal hybrids between drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans. | misregulation of gene expression is often observed in interspecific hybrids and is generally attributed to regulatory incompatibilities caused by divergence between the two genomes. however, it has been challenging to distinguish effects of regulatory divergence from secondary effects including developmental and physiological defects common to hybrids. here, we use rna-seq to profile gene expression in f1 hybrid male larvae from crosses of drosophila melanogaster to its sibling species d. simula ... | 2014 | 24723419 |
| drosophila adult and larval pheromones modulate larval food choice. | insects use chemosensory cues to feed and mate. in drosophila, the effect of pheromones has been extensively investigated in adults, but rarely in larvae. the colonization of natural food sources by drosophila buzzatii and drosophila simulans species may depend on species-specific chemical cues left in the food by larvae and adults. we identified such chemicals in both species and measured their influence on larval food preference and puparation behaviour. we also tested compounds that varied be ... | 2014 | 24741012 |
| distinguishing migration from isolation using genes with intragenic recombination: detecting introgression in the drosophila simulans species complex. | determining the presence or absence of gene flow between populations is the target of some statistical methods in population genetics. until recently, these methods either avoided the use of recombining genes, or treated recombination as a nuisance parameter. however, genes with recombination contribute additional information for the detection of gene flow (i.e. through linkage disequilibrium). | 2014 | 24762206 |
| hybridization occurs between drosophila simulans and d. sechellia in the seychelles archipelago. | drosophila simulans and d. sechellia are sister species that serve as a model to study the evolution of reproductive isolation. while d. simulans is a human commensal that has spread all over the world, d. sechellia is restricted to the seychelles archipelago and is found to breed exclusively on the toxic fruit of morinda citrifolia. we surveyed the relative frequency of males from these two species in a variety of substrates found on five islands of the seychelles archipelago. we sampled differ ... | 2014 | 24773151 |
| environmental heterogeneity, multivariate sexual selection and genetic constraints on cuticular hydrocarbons in drosophila simulans. | sexual selection is responsible for the evolution of many elaborate traits, but sexual trait evolution could be influenced by opposing natural selection as well as genetic constraints. as such, the evolution of sexual traits could depend heavily on the environment if trait expression and attractiveness vary between environments. here, male drosophila simulans were reared across a range of diets and temperatures, and we examined differences between these environments in terms of (i) the expressio ... | 2014 | 24779049 |
| high anti-viral protection without immune upregulation after interspecies wolbachia transfer. | wolbachia, endosymbionts that reside naturally in up to 40-70% of all insect species, are some of the most prevalent intracellular bacteria. both wolbachia wau, naturally associated with drosophila simulans, and wmel, native to drosophila melanogaster, have been previously described to protect their hosts against viral infections. wmel transferred to d. simulans was also shown to have a strong antiviral effect. here we directly compare one of the most protective wmel variants and wau in d. melan ... | 2014 | 24911519 |
| effects of female behavior on wing display and courtship of male drosophila simulans and drosophila melanogaster. | corrolations between female rejection behaviors and male wing display were calculated for both drosophila simulans and drosophila melanogaster intraspicific pair-matings. no significant correlations were found for d. melanogaster, but in d. simulans flicking by the female appeared to be associated with a shift in male wing display pattern resulting in higher levels of vibration. flicking did not appear to discourage courtship by males in either species. | 1981 | 24925614 |
| genome assembly and annotation of a drosophila simulans strain from madagascar. | drosophila simulans is a close relative of the genetic model d. melanogaster. its worldwide distribution in combination with the absence of segregating chromosomal inversions makes this species an increasingly attractive model to study the molecular signatures of adaptation in natural and experimental populations. in an effort to improve the genomic resources for d. simulans, we assembled and annotated the genome of a strain originating from madagascar (m252), the ancestral range of d. simulans. ... | 2015 | 24961367 |
| niche construction initiates the evolution of mutualistic interactions. | niche construction theory explains how organisms' niche modifications may feed back to affect their evolutionary trajectories. in theory, the evolution of other species accessing the same modified niche may also be affected. we propose that this niche construction may be a general mechanism driving the evolution of mutualisms. drosophilid flies benefit from accessing yeast-infested fruits, but the consequences of this interaction for yeasts are unknown. we reveal high levels of variation among s ... | 2014 | 25041133 |
| an x-linked sex ratio distorter in drosophila simulans that kills or incapacitates both noncarrier sperm and sons. | genomic conflict occurs when a genomic component gains a reproductive advantage at the expense of the organism as a whole. x-linked segregation distorters kill or incapacitate y-bearing sperm, thereby gaining a transmission advantage but also reducing male fertility and generating a female-biased sex ratio. when some damaged, y-bearing sperm survive and fertilize eggs, then the segregation distortion phenotype could be expanded by harming or killing sons in the next generation. x-linked son-kill ... | 2014 | 25081980 |
| predictability rather than amplitude of temperature fluctuations determines stress resistance in a natural population of drosophila simulans. | the adaptability of organisms to novel environmental conditions depends on the amount of genetic variance present in the population as well as on the ability of individuals to adjust their phenotype through phenotypic plasticity. here, we investigated the phenotypic plasticity induced by a single generation's exposure to three different temperature regimes with respect to several life-history and stress-resistance traits in a natural population of drosophila simulans. we studied a constant as we ... | 2014 | 25146297 |
| the magnitude of behavioral isolation is affected by characteristics of the mating community. | gene exchange between species occurs in areas of secondary contact, where two species have the opportunity to hybridize. if heterospecific males are more common than conspecific males, females will experience more encounters with males of other species. these encounters might increase the likelihood of heterospecific matings, and lead to the production of hybrid progeny. i studied the mating behavior of two pairs of sibling species endemic to africa: drosophila yakuba/drosophila santomea and dro ... | 2014 | 25165530 |
| a test of double interspecific introgression of nucleoporin genes in drosophila. | in interspecific hybrids between drosophila melanogaster and drosophila simulans, the d. simulans nucleoporin-encoding nup96(sim) and nup160(sim) can cause recessive lethality if the hybrid does not also inherit the d. simulans x chromosome. in addition, nup160(sim) leads to recessive female sterility in the d. melanogaster genetic background. here, we conducted carefully controlled crosses to better understandthe relationship between nup96(sim) and nup160(sim). nup96(sim) did not lead to female ... | 2014 | 25172915 |
| genome diversity and divergence in drosophila mauritiana: multiple signatures of faster x evolution. | drosophila mauritiana is an indian ocean island endemic species that diverged from its two sister species, drosophila simulans and drosophila sechellia, approximately 240,000 years ago. multiple forms of incomplete reproductive isolation have evolved among these species, including sexual, gametic, ecological, and intrinsic postzygotic barriers, with crosses among all three species conforming to haldane's rule: f(1) hybrid males are sterile and f(1) hybrid females are fertile. extensive genetic r ... | 2014 | 25193308 |
| the role of rdl in resistance to phenylpyrazoles in drosophila melanogaster. | extensive use of older generation insecticides may result in pre-existing cross-resistance to new chemical classes acting at the same target site. phenylpyrazole insecticides block inhibitory neurotransmission in insects via their action on ligand-gated chloride channels (lgccs). phenylpyrazoles are broad-spectrum insecticides widely used in agriculture and domestic pest control. so far, all identified cases of target site resistance to phenylpyrazoles are based on mutations in the rdl (resistan ... | 2014 | 25193377 |
| symbionts commonly provide broad spectrum resistance to viruses in insects: a comparative analysis of wolbachia strains. | in the last decade, bacterial symbionts have been shown to play an important role in protecting hosts against pathogens. wolbachia, a widespread symbiont in arthropods, can protect drosophila and mosquito species against viral infections. we have investigated antiviral protection in 19 wolbachia strains originating from 16 drosophila species after transfer into the same genotype of drosophila simulans. we found that approximately half of the strains protected against two rna viruses. given that ... | 2014 | 25233341 |
| no patterns in thermal plasticity along a latitudinal gradient in drosophila simulans from eastern australia. | phenotypic plasticity may be an important initial mechanism to counter environmental change, yet we know relatively little about the evolution of plasticity in nature. species with widespread distributions are expected to have evolved higher levels of plasticity compared with those with more restricted, tropical distributions. at the intraspecific level, temperate populations are expected to have evolved higher levels of plasticity than their tropical counterparts. however, empirical support for ... | 2014 | 25262984 |
| differential responses to artificial selection on oviposition site preferences in drosophila melanogaster and d. simulans. | the preference-performance relationship in plant-insect interactions is a central theme in evolutionary ecology. among many insects, eggs are vulnerable and larvae have limited mobility, making the choice of an appropriate oviposition site one of the most important decisions for a female. we investigated the evolution of oviposition preferences in drosophila melanogaster meigen and drosophila simulans sturtevant by artificially selecting for the preference for 2 natural resources, grape and quin ... | 2015 | 25263841 |
| individual genetic contributions to genital shape variation between drosophila simulans and d. mauritiana. | external genitalia are one of the most rapidly evolving morphological features in insects. in the drosophila melanogaster species subgroup, males possess a nonfertilizing external genital structure, called the posterior lobe, which is highly divergent among even closely related species. a previous study on this subgroup mapped two genomic regions that affect lobe size and four that affect lobe shape differences between d. mauritiana and d. sechellia; none of the regions affected both size and sh ... | 2014 | 25313344 |
| normal segregation of a foreign-species chromosome during drosophila female meiosis despite extensive heterochromatin divergence. | the abundance and composition of heterochromatin changes rapidly between species and contributes to hybrid incompatibility and reproductive isolation. heterochromatin differences may also destabilize chromosome segregation and cause meiotic drive, the non-mendelian segregation of homologous chromosomes. here we use a range of genetic and cytological assays to examine the meiotic properties of a drosophila simulans chromosome 4 (sim-iv) introgressed into d. melanogaster. these two species differ ... | 2015 | 25406466 |
| positive selection at a seminal fluid gene within a qtl for conspecific sperm precedence. | the role of sexual selection in driving the rapid evolution of male reproductive proteins has been tested in a wide variety of organisms. sperm competition is a form of postmating sexual selection that can contribute to reproductive isolation between species by biasing the proportion of progeny fathered by conspecific over heterospecific males. this phenomenon is known as conspecific sperm precedence (csp). a previous quantitative trait loci study between drosophila simulans and d. sechellia ide ... | 2014 | 25417008 |
| evolved differences in larval social behavior mediated by novel pheromones. | pheromones, chemical signals that convey social information, mediate many insect social behaviors, including navigation and aggregation. several studies have suggested that behavior during the immature larval stages of drosophila development is influenced by pheromones, but none of these compounds or the pheromone-receptor neurons that sense them have been identified. here we report a larval pheromone-signaling pathway. we found that larvae produce two novel long-chain fatty acids that are attra ... | 2014 | 25497433 |
| the taste of togetherness. | the larvae of fruit flies produce pheromones to control whether they are attracted to others of the same species or whether they avoid members of a different species. | 2014 | 25497434 |
| wolbachia small noncoding rnas and their role in cross-kingdom communications. | in prokaryotes, small noncoding rnas (snrnas) of 50-500 nt are produced that are important in bacterial virulence and response to environmental stimuli. here, we identified and characterized snrnas from the endosymbiotic bacteria, wolbachia, which are widespread in invertebrates and cause reproductive manipulations. most importantly, some strains of wolbachia inhibit replication of several vector-borne pathogens in insects. we demonstrate that two abundant snrnas, wsnrna-46 and wsnrna-49, are ex ... | 2014 | 25512495 |
| inbreeding alters intersexual fitness correlations in drosophila simulans. | intralocus sexual conflict results from sexually antagonistic selection on traits shared by the sexes. this can displace males and females from their respective fitness optima, and negative intersexual correlations (r mf) for fitness are the unequivocal indicator of this evolutionary conflict. it has recently been suggested that intersexual fitness correlations can vary depending on the segregating genetic variation present in a population, and one way to alter genetic variation and test this id ... | 2014 | 25535550 |
| genetic architecture and functional characterization of genes underlying the rapid diversification of male external genitalia between drosophila simulans and drosophila mauritiana. | male sexual characters are often among the first traits to diverge between closely related species and identifying the genetic basis of such changes can contribute to our understanding of their evolutionary history. however, little is known about the genetic architecture or the specific genes underlying the evolution of male genitalia. the morphology of the claspers, posterior lobes, and anal plates exhibit striking differences between drosophila mauritiana and d. simulans. using qtl and introgr ... | 2015 | 25783699 |
| no evidence for external genital morphology affecting cryptic female choice and reproductive isolation in drosophila. | genitalia are one of the most rapidly diverging morphological features in animals. the evolution of genital morphology is proposed to be driven by sexual selection via cryptic female choice, whereby a female selectively uptakes and uses a particular male's sperm on the basis of male genital morphology. the resulting shifts in genital morphology within a species can lead to divergence in genitalia between species, and consequently to reproductive isolation and speciation. although this conceptual ... | 2015 | 25962316 |
| the recent invasion of natural drosophila simulans populations by the p-element. | the p-element is one of the best understood eukaryotic transposable elements. it invaded drosophila melanogaster populations within a few decades but was thought to be absent from close relatives, including drosophila simulans. five decades after the spread in d. melanogaster, we provide evidence that the p-element has also invaded d. simulans. p-elements in d. simulans appear to have been acquired recently from d. melanogaster probably via a single horizontal transfer event. expression data ind ... | 2015 | 25964349 |
| lineage-specific evolution of the complex nup160 hybrid incompatibility between drosophila melanogaster and its sister species. | two genes encoding protein components of the nuclear pore complex nup160 and nup96 cause lethality in f2-like hybrid genotypes between drosophila simulans and drosophila melanogaster. in particular, d. simulans nup160 and nup96 each cause inviability when hemizygous or homozygous in species hybrids that are also hemizygous (or homozygous) for the d. melanogaster x chromosome. the hybrid lethality of nup160, however, is genetically complex, depending on one or more unknown additional factors in t ... | 2015 | 26022241 |
| a drosophila model for mito-nuclear diseases generated by an incompatible interaction between trna and trna synthetase. | communication between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes is vital for cellular function. the assembly of mitochondrial enzyme complexes, which produce the majority of cellular energy, requires the coordinated expression and translation of both mitochondrially and nuclear-encoded proteins. the joint genetic architecture of this system complicates the basis of mitochondrial diseases, and mutations both in mitochondrial dna (mtdna)- and nuclear-encoded genes have been implicated in mitochondrial ... | 2015 | 26035388 |
| effects of heat and uv radiation on the mobilization of transposon mariner-mos1. | there are many complex interactions between transposable elements (tes) and host genomes. environmental changes that induce stressful conditions help to contribute for increasing complexity of these interactions. the transposon mariner-mos1 increases its mobilization under mild heat stress. it has putative heat shock elements (hses), which are probably activated by heat shock factors (hsfs). ultraviolet radiation (uvc) is a stressor that has been suggested as able to activate heat shock protein ... | 2015 | 26092118 |
| seasonal variation in life history traits in two drosophila species. | seasonal environmental heterogeneity is cyclic, persistent and geographically widespread. in species that reproduce multiple times annually, environmental changes across seasonal time may create different selection regimes that may shape the population ecology and life history adaptation in these species. here, we investigate how two closely related species of drosophila in a temperate orchard respond to environmental changes across seasonal time. natural populations of drosophila melanogaster a ... | 2015 | 26174167 |
| tandem duplications and the limits of natural selection in drosophila yakuba and drosophila simulans. | 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 in drosophila yakuba and drosophila simulans. we observe an excess of duplicated genes involved in defense against pathogens, insecticide resistance, chorion development, cuticular peptides, and lipases or endopeptidases associated with the accessory glands ac ... | 2015 | 26176952 |
| phenotypic plasticity is not affected by experimental evolution in constant, predictable or unpredictable fluctuating thermal environments. | the selective past of populations is presumed to affect the levels of phenotypic plasticity. experimental evolution at constant temperatures is generally expected to lead to a decreased level of plasticity due to presumed costs associated with phenotypic plasticity when not needed. in this study, we investigated the effect of experimental evolution in constant, predictable and unpredictable daily fluctuating temperature regimes on the levels of phenotype plasticity in several life history and st ... | 2015 | 26299271 |
| correction: a re-examination of wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility in california drosophila simulans. | 2015 | 26348356 |