| Title: | Rapid evolution of sex pheromone-producing enzyme expression in Drosophila |
| Author(s): | Shirangi TR; Dufour HD; Williams TM; Carroll SB; |
| Address: | "Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States of America" |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000168 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1545-7885 (Electronic) 1544-9173 (Print) 1544-9173 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "A wide range of organisms use sex pheromones to communicate with each other and to identify appropriate mating partners. While the evolution of chemical communication has been suggested to cause sexual isolation and speciation, the mechanisms that govern evolutionary transitions in sex pheromone production are poorly understood. Here, we decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution in the expression of a gene involved in sex pheromone production in Drosophilid flies. Long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (e.g., dienes) are produced female-specifically, notably via the activity of the desaturase DESAT-F, and are potent pheromones for male courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that across the genus Drosophila, the expression of this enzyme is correlated with long-chain diene production and has undergone an extraordinary number of evolutionary transitions, including six independent gene inactivations, three losses of expression without gene loss, and two transitions in sex-specificity. Furthermore, we show that evolutionary transitions from monomorphism to dimorphism (and its reversion) in desatF expression involved the gain (and the inactivation) of a binding-site for the sex-determination transcription factor, DOUBLESEX. In addition, we documented a surprising example of the gain of particular cis-regulatory motifs of the desatF locus via a set of small deletions. Together, our results suggest that frequent changes in the expression of pheromone-producing enzymes underlie evolutionary transitions in chemical communication, and reflect changing regimes of sexual selection, which may have contributed to speciation among Drosophila" |
| Keywords: | "*Animal Communication Animals Binding Sites/genetics DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics Drosophila/*enzymology Drosophila Proteins/genetics/*metabolism *Evolution, Molecular Fatty Acid Desaturases/genetics/*metabolism Female Gene Expression Regulation/*genetic;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineShirangi, Troy R Dufour, Heloise D Williams, Thomas M Carroll, Sean B eng HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ F32 GM076935/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ GM076935/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ F32 GM083829/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ GM083829A/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2009/08/05 PLoS Biol. 2009 Aug; 7(8):e1000168. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000168. Epub 2009 Aug 4" |
