| Title: | Tissue-Specific cis-Regulatory Divergence Implicates eloF in Inhibiting Interspecies Mating in Drosophila |
| Author(s): | Combs PA; Krupp JJ; Khosla NM; Bua D; Petrov DA; Levine JD; Fraser HB; |
| Address: | "Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: pcombs@stanford.edu. Department of Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada. Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: hbfraser@stanford.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.036 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Print) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Reproductive isolation is a key component of speciation. In many insects, a major driver of this isolation is cuticular hydrocarbon pheromones, which help to identify potential intraspecific mates [1-3]. When the distributions of related species overlap, there may be strong selection on mate choice for intraspecific partners [4-9] because interspecific hybridization carries significant fitness costs [10]. Drosophila has been a key model for the investigation of reproductive isolation; although both male and female mate choices have been extensively investigated [6, 11-16], the genes underlying species recognition remain largely unknown. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying Drosophila speciation, we measured tissue-specific cis-regulatory divergence using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in D. simulans x D. sechellia hybrids. By focusing on cis-regulatory changes specific to female oenocytes, the tissue that produces cuticular hydrocarbons, we rapidly identified a small number of candidate genes. We found that one of these, the fatty acid elongase eloF, broadly affects the hydrocarbons present on D. sechellia and D. melanogaster females, as well as the propensity of D. simulans males to mate with them. Therefore, cis-regulatory changes in eloF may be a major driver in the sexual isolation of D. simulans from multiple other species. Our RNA-seq approach proved to be far more efficient than quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in identifying candidate genes; the same framework can be used to pinpoint candidate drivers of cis-regulatory divergence in traits differing between any interfertile species" |
| Keywords: | "Acetyltransferases/*genetics/metabolism Animals Drosophila/genetics/*physiology Drosophila simulans/genetics/physiology Female *Hybridization, Genetic Male *Reproductive Isolation *Sexual Behavior, Animal Drosophila allele specific expression cis-regulato;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineCombs, Peter A Krupp, Joshua J Khosla, Neil M Bua, Dennis Petrov, Dmitri A Levine, Joel D Fraser, Hunter B eng R01 GM097171/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ P40 OD018537/OD/NIH HHS/ CIHR/Canada R35 GM118165/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ P30 CA124435/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2018/12/07 Curr Biol. 2018 Dec 17; 28(24):3969-3975.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.036. Epub 2018 Nov 29" |
