In: Evolution, 2019, vol. 73, no. 9, p. 1774–1792
A fundamental aim of adaptation genomics is to identify polymorphisms that underpin variation in fitness traits. In Drosophila melanogaster, latitudinal life‐history clines exist on multiple continents and make an excellent system for dissecting the genetics of adaptation. We have previously identified numerous clinal single‐nucleotide polymorphism in insulin/insulin‐like growth factor...
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In: Developmental Cell, 2019, vol. 50, no. 6, p. 780-792.e7
Size trade-offs of visual versus olfactory organs is a pervasive feature of animal evolution. This could result from genetic or functional constraints. We demonstrate that head sensory organ size trade-offs in Drosophila are genetically encoded and arise through differential subdivision of the head primordium into visual versus non- visual fields. We discover that changes in the temporal...
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In: Molecular Ecology, 2019, vol. 28, no. 6, p. 1263–1282
Chromosomal inversions, structural mutations that reverse a segment of a chromosome, cause suppression of recombination in the heterozygous state. Several studies have shown that inversion polymorphisms can form clines or fluctuate predictably in frequency over seasonal time spans. These observations prompted the hypothesis that chromosomal rearrangements might be subject to spatially and/or ...
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In: PLoS ONE, 2010, vol. 5, no. 8, p. 1-5
Background: The Drosophila C virus (DCV) is a common and well-studied Drosophila pathogen. Although natural infections are known from Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, and artificial infections have been reported from several. Drosophila species and other insects, it remains unclear to date whether DCV infections also occur naturally in other Drosophila species. Methods/Principal Findings:...
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In: Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2016, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 1317–1336
Clines in chromosomal inversion polymorphisms—presumably driven by climatic gradients—are common but there is surprisingly little evidence for selection acting on them. Here we address this long-standing issue in Drosophila melanogaster by using diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers to estimate inversion frequencies from 28 whole-genome Pool-seq samples collected from 10...
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In: Molecular Ecology, 2014, vol. 23, no. 7, p. 1813–1827
Sequencing of pools of individuals (Pool‐Seq) represents a reliable and cost‐effective approach for estimating genome‐wide SNP and transposable element insertion frequencies. However, Pool‐Seq does not provide direct information on haplotypes so that, for example, obtaining inversion frequencies has not been possible until now. Here, we have developed a new set of diagnostic marker...
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In: Molecular Ecology, 2012, vol. 21, no. 19, p. 4748–4769
Understanding the genetic underpinnings of adaptive change is a fundamental but largely unresolved problem in evolutionary biology. Drosophila melanogaster, an ancestrally tropical insect that has spread to temperate regions and become cosmopolitan, offers a powerful opportunity for identifying the molecular polymorphisms underlying clinal adaptation. Here, we use genome‐wide next‐...
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In: Molecular Ecology, 2012, vol. 21, no. 20, p. 4931–4941
The genomic basis of adaptation to novel environments is a fundamental problem in evolutionary biology that has gained additional importance in the light of the recent global change discussion. Here, we combined laboratory natural selection (experimental evolution) in Drosophila melanogaster with genome‐wide next generation sequencing of DNA pools (Pool‐Seq) to identify alleles that are...
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In: Evolution Letters, 2018, vol. 2, no. 6, p. 567–579
Much has been learned about the genetics of aging from studies in model organisms, but still little is known about naturally occurring alleles that contribute to variation in longevity. For example, analysis of mutants and transgenes has identified insulin signaling as a major regulator of longevity, yet whether standing variation in this pathway underlies microevolutionary changes in...
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In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2018, vol. 31, no. 9, p. 1354–1364
Chromosomal inversions often contribute to local adaptation across latitudinal clines, but the underlying selective mechanisms remain poorly understood. We and others have previously shown that a clinal inversion polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster, In(3R)Payne, underpins body size clines along the North American and Australian east coasts. Here, we ask whether this polymorphism also...
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