Polygenic cis-regulatory adaptation in the evolution of yeast pathogenicity

Gene-by-environment Interactions and Adaptive Body Size Variation in Mice From the Americas

The relationship between genotype and phenotype is often mediated by the environment. Moreover, gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions can contribute to variation in phenotypes and fitness. In the last 500 yr, house mice have invaded the Americas. Despite their short residence time, there is evidence of rapid climate adaptation, including shifts in body size and aspects of metabolism with latitude. Previous selection scans have identified candidate genes for metabolic adaptation. However, environmental variation in diet as well as GxE interactions likely impact body mass variation in wild populations. Here, we investigated the role of the environment and GxE interactions in shaping adaptive phenotypic variation. Using new locally adapted inbred strains from North and South America, we evaluated response to a high-fat diet, finding that sex, strain, diet, and the interaction between strain and diet contributed significantly to variation in body size. We also found that the transcriptional response to diet is largely strain-specific, indicating that GxE interactions affecting gene expression are pervasive. Next, we used crosses between strains from contrasting climates to characterize gene expression regulatory divergence on a standard diet and on a high-fat diet. We found that gene regulatory divergence is often condition-specific, particularly for trans-acting changes. Finally, we found evidence for lineage-specific selection on cis-regulatory variation involved in diverse processes, including lipid metabolism. Overlap with scans for selection identified candidate genes for environmental adaptation with diet-specific effects. Together, our results underscore the importance of environmental variation and GxE interactions in shaping adaptive variation in complex traits.

Stem cell transcriptional profiles from mouse subspecies reveal cis-regulatory evolution at translation genes

A key goal of evolutionary genomics is to harness molecular data to draw inferences about selective forces that have acted on genomes. The field progresses in large part through the development of advanced molecular-evolution analysis methods. Here we explored the intersection between classical sequence-based tests for selection and an empirical expression-based approach, using stem cells from Mus musculus subspecies as a model. Using a test of directional, cis-regulatory evolution across genes in pathways, we discovered a unique program of induction of translation genes in stem cells of the Southeast Asian mouse M. m. castaneus relative to its sister taxa. We then mined population-genomic sequences to pursue underlying regulatory mechanisms for this expression divergence, finding robust evidence for alleles unique to M. m. castaneus at the upstream regions of the translation genes. We interpret our data under a model of changes in lineage-specific pressures across Mus musculus in stem cells with high translational capacity. Our findings underscore the rigor of integrating expression and sequence-based methods to generate hypotheses about evolutionary events from long ago.

Stem cell transcriptional profiles from mouse subspecies reveal cis -regulatory evolution at translation genes

A key goal of evolutionary genomics is to harness molecular data to draw inferences about selective forces that have acted on genomes. The field progresses in large part through the development of advanced molecular-evolution analysis methods. Here we explored the intersection between classical sequence-based tests for selection and an empirical expression-based approach, using stem cells from Mus musculus subspecies as a model. Using a test of directional, cis -regulatory evolution across genes in pathways, we discovered a unique program of induction of translation genes in stem cells of the Southeast Asian mouse M. m. castaneus relative to its sister taxa. We then mined population-genomic sequences to pursue underlying regulatory mechanisms for this expression divergence, finding robust evidence for alleles unique to M. m. castaneus at the upstream regions of the translation genes. We interpret our data under a model of changes in lineage-specific pressures across Mus musculus in stem cells with high translational capacity. Our findings underscore the rigor of integrating expression and sequence-based methods to generate hypotheses about evolutionary events from long ago.

Selection on plastic adherence leads to hyper-multicellular strains and incidental virulence in the budding yeast

Many disease-causing microbes are not obligate pathogens; rather, they are environmental microbes taking advantage of an ecological opportunity. The existence of microbes whose life cycle does not require a host and are not normally pathogenic, yet are well-suited to host exploitation, is an evolutionary puzzle. One hypothesis posits that selection in the environment may favor traits that incidentally lead to pathogenicity and virulence, or serve as pre-adaptations for survival in a host. An example of such a trait is surface adherence. To experimentally test the idea of 'accidental virulence', replicate populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were evolved to attach to a plastic bead for hundreds of generations. Along with plastic adherence, two multicellular phenotypes- biofilm formation and flor formation- increased; another phenotype, pseudohyphal growth, responded to the nutrient limitation. Thus, experimental selection led to the evolution of highly-adherent, hyper-multicellular strains. Wax moth larvae injected with evolved hyper-multicellular strains were significantly more likely to die than those injected with evolved non-multicellular strains. Hence, selection on plastic adherence incidentally led to the evolution of enhanced multicellularity and increased virulence. Our results support the idea that selection for a trait beneficial in the open environment can inadvertently generate opportunistic, 'accidental' pathogens.

A computational investigation of cis-gene regulation in evolution

In biological processes involving gene networks, genes regulate other genes that determine the phenotypic traits. Gene regulation plays an important role in evolutionary dynamics. In a genetic algorithm, a trans-gene regulatory mechanism was shown to speed up adaptation and evolution. Here, we examine the effect of cis-gene regulation on an adaptive system. The model is haploid. A chromosome is partitioned into regulatory loci and structural loci. The regulatory genes regulate the expression and functioning of structural genes via the cis-elements in a probabilistic manner. In the simulation, the change in the allele frequency, the mean population fitness and the efficiency of phenotypic selection are monitored. Cis-gene regulation increases adaption and accelerates the evolutionary process in comparison with the case involving absence of gene regulation. Some special features of the simulation results are as follows. A low ratio of regulatory loci and structural loci gives higher adaptation for fixed total number of loci. Plasticity is advantageous beyond a threshold value. Adaptation is better for large number of total loci when the ratio of regulatory loci to structural loci is one. However, it reaches a saturation beyond which the increase in the total loci is not advantageous. Efficiency of the phenotypic selection is higher for larger value of the initial plasticity.

Cis-regulatory variants affect gene expression dynamics in yeast

Evolution of cis-regulatory sequences depends on how they affect gene expression and motivates both the identification and prediction of cis-regulatory variants responsible for expression differences within and between species. While much progress has been made in relating cis-regulatory variants to expression levels, the timing of gene activation and repression may also be important to the evolution of cis-regulatory sequences. We investigated allele-specific expression (ASE) dynamics within and between Saccharomyces species during the diauxic shift and found appreciable cis-acting variation in gene expression dynamics. Within-species ASE is associated with intergenic variants, and ASE dynamics are more strongly associated with insertions and deletions than ASE levels. To refine these associations, we used a high-throughput reporter assay to test promoter regions and individual variants. Within the subset of regions that recapitulated endogenous expression, we identified and characterized cis-regulatory variants that affect expression dynamics. Between species, chimeric promoter regions generate novel patterns and indicate constraints on the evolution of gene expression dynamics. We conclude that changes in cis-regulatory sequences can tune gene expression dynamics and that the interplay between expression dynamics and other aspects of expression is relevant to the evolution of cis-regulatory sequences.

Lineage-specific selection and the evolution of virulence in the Candida clade

Of the many microbial species on earth, only a small number are able to thrive in humans and cause disease. Comparison of closely related pathogenic and nonpathogenic species can therefore be useful in identifying key features that contribute to virulence. We created interspecies hybrids between Candida albicans, a prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, and Candida dubliniensis, a close, but much less pathogenic, relative. By comparing genome-wide expression differences between the two genomes in the same cell, we surmised that since the two species diverged from a common ancestor, natural selection has acted upon the expression level of an ancient metabolic pathway, illustrating that pathogenicity traits can arise over evolutionary timescales through small expression changes in deeply conserved proteins.

Candida albicans is the most common cause of systemic fungal infections in humans and is considerably more virulent than its closest known relative, Candida dubliniensis. To investigate this difference, we constructed interspecies hybrids and quantified mRNA levels produced from each genome in the hybrid. This approach systematically identified expression differences in orthologous genes arising from cis-regulatory sequence changes that accumulated since the two species last shared a common ancestor, some 10 million y ago. We documented many orthologous gene-expression differences between the two species, and we pursued one striking observation: All 15 genes coding for the enzymes of glycolysis showed higher expression from the C. albicans genome than the C. dubliniensis genome in the interspecies hybrid. This pattern requires evolutionary changes to have occurred at each gene; the fact that they all act in the same direction strongly indicates lineage-specific natural selection as the underlying cause. To test whether these expression differences contribute to virulence, we created a C. dubliniensis strain in which all 15 glycolysis genes were produced at modestly elevated levels and found that this strain had significantly increased virulence in the standard mouse model of systemic infection. These results indicate that small expression differences across a deeply conserved set of metabolism enzymes can play a significant role in the evolution of virulence in fungal pathogens.

Large-Scale Genome Scanning within Exonic Regions Revealed the Contributions of Selective Sweep Prone Genes to Host Divergence and Adaptation in Magnaporthe oryzae Species Complex

Magnaporthe oryzae, one of the most notorious plant pathogens in the agronomic ecosystem, causes a destructive rice blast disease around the world. The blast fungus infects wide arrays of cultivated and non-cultivated plants within the Poaceae. Studies have shown that host speciation exerts selection pressure that drives the evolution and divergence of the M. oryzae population. Population genetic relationship deducted by genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms showed that M. oryzae differentiation is highly consistent with the host speciation process. In particular, the rice-infecting population of M. oryzae is distinct from populations from other hosts. However, how genome regions prone to host-mediated selection pressures associated with speciation in M. oryzae, especially at a large-scale population level, has not been extensively characterized. Here, we detected strong evidence of sweep selection throughout the genomes of rice and non-rice pathotypes of M. oryzae population using integrated haplotype score (iHS), cross population extended haplotype homozygosity (XPEHH), and cross population composite likelihood ratio (XPCLR) tests. Functional annotation analyses of the genes associated with host-mediated selection pressure showed that 14 pathogenicity-related genes are under positive selection pressure. Additionally, we showed that 17 candidate effector proteins are under positive and divergent selection among the blast fungus population through sweep selection analysis. Specifically, we find that a divergent selective gene, MGG_13871, is experiencing host-directed mutation in two amino acid residues in rice and non-rice infecting populations. These results provide a crucial insight into the impact of selective sweeping on the differentiation of M. oryzae populations and the dynamic influences of genomic regions in promoting host adaptation and speciation among M. oryzae species.

Divergence of Peroxisome Membrane Gene Sequence and Expression Between Yeast Species

Large population-genomic sequencing studies can enable highly-powered analyses of sequence signatures of natural selection. Genome repositories now available for Saccharomyces yeast make it a premier model for studies of the molecular mechanisms of adaptation. We mined the genomes of hundreds of isolates of the sister species S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus to identify sequence hallmarks of adaptive divergence between the two. From the top hits we focused on a set of genes encoding membrane proteins of the peroxisome, an organelle devoted to lipid breakdown and other specialized metabolic pathways. In-depth population- and comparative-genomic sequence analyses of these genes revealed striking divergence between S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus. And from transcriptional profiles we detected non-neutral, directional cis-regulatory variation at the peroxisome membrane genes, with overall high expression in S. cerevisiae relative to S. paradoxus. Taken together, these data support a model in which yeast species have differentially tuned the expression of peroxisome components to boost their fitness in distinct niches.

Transcriptional Heterogeneity of Cryptococcus gattii VGII Compared with Non-VGII Lineages Underpins Key Pathogenicity Pathways

The transcriptional profiles of related pathogens and their responses to host-induced stresses underpin their pathogenicity. Expression differences between related pathogens during host interaction can indicate when and how these genes contribute to virulence, ultimately informing new and improved treatment strategies for those diseases. In this paper, we compare the transcriptional profiles of five isolates representing four lineages of C. gattii in rich media. Our analyses identified key processes, including those involving cell capsule, ergosterol production, and melanin, that are differentially expressed between lineages, and we found that VGII has the most distinct profile in terms of numbers of differentially expressed genes. All lineages have also undergone subfunctionalization for several paralogs, including capsule biosynthesis and attachment genes. Most genes appeared downregulated during coincubation with macrophages, with the largest decrease observed for capsule attachment genes, which appeared to be coordinated with a stress response, as all lineages also upregulated oxidative stress response genes. Furthermore, VGII upregulated many genes that are linked to ergosterol biosynthesis and switched from expression of the laccase LAC1 to expression of LAC2 ex vivo. Finally, we saw a pronounced increase in the FosB/Jun/Egr1 regulatory proteins at early time points in bone marrow-derived macrophages, marking a role in the host response to C. gattii. This work highlights the dynamic roles of key C. gattii virulence genes in response to macrophages.

Cryptococcus gattii is a pathogenic yeast of humans and other animals which causes disease predominantly in immunocompetent hosts. Infection begins when aerosolized yeast or spores enter the body, triggering an immune response, including engulfment by macrophages. To understand the early transcriptional signals in both the yeast and its mammalian host, we performed a time-course dual-transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) experiment for four lineages of C. gattii (lineages VGI to IV) interacting with mouse macrophages at 1, 3, and 6 h postinfection. Comparisons of in vitro to ex vivo gene expression levels indicated that lineage VGII is transcriptionally divergent from non-VGII lineages, including differential expression of genes involved in capsule synthesis, capsule attachment, and ergosterol production. Several paralogous genes demonstrated subfunctionalization between lineages, including upregulation of capsule biosynthesis-related gene CAP2 and downregulation of CAP1 in VGIII. Isolates also compensate for lineage-specific gene losses by overexpression of genetically similar paralogs, including overexpression of capsule gene CAS3 in VGIV, which have lost the CAS31 gene. Differential expression of one in five C. gattii genes was detected following coincubation with mouse macrophages; all isolates showed high induction of oxidative-reduction functions and downregulation of capsule attachment genes. We also found that VGII switches expression of two laccase paralogs (from LAC1 to LAC2) during coincubation of macrophages. Finally, we found that mouse macrophages respond to all four lineages of C. gattii by upregulating FosB/Jun/Egr1 regulatory proteins at early time points. This report highlights the evolutionary breadth of expression profiles among the lineages of C. gattii and the diversity of transcriptional responses at this host-pathogen interface.

IMPORTANCE The transcriptional profiles of related pathogens and their responses to host-induced stresses underpin their pathogenicity. Expression differences between related pathogens during host interaction can indicate when and how these genes contribute to virulence, ultimately informing new and improved treatment strategies for those diseases. In this paper, we compare the transcriptional profiles of five isolates representing four lineages of C. gattii in rich media. Our analyses identified key processes, including those involving cell capsule, ergosterol production, and melanin, that are differentially expressed between lineages, and we found that VGII has the most distinct profile in terms of numbers of differentially expressed genes. All lineages have also undergone subfunctionalization for several paralogs, including capsule biosynthesis and attachment genes. Most genes appeared downregulated during coincubation with macrophages, with the largest decrease observed for capsule attachment genes, which appeared to be coordinated with a stress response, as all lineages also upregulated oxidative stress response genes. Furthermore, VGII upregulated many genes that are linked to ergosterol biosynthesis and switched from expression of the laccase LAC1 to expression of LAC2 ex vivo. Finally, we saw a pronounced increase in the FosB/Jun/Egr1 regulatory proteins at early time points in bone marrow-derived macrophages, marking a role in the host response to C. gattii. This work highlights the dynamic roles of key C. gattii virulence genes in response to macrophages.

Gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in complex traits in yeast

One of the fundamental questions in biology is how the genotype regulates the phenotype. An increasing number of studies indicate that, in most cases, the effect of a genetic locus on the phenotype is context-dependent, i.e. it is influenced by the genetic background and the environment in which the phenotype is measured. Still, the majority of the studies, in both model organisms and humans, that map the genetic regulation of phenotypic variation in complex traits primarily identify additive loci with independent effects. This does not reflect an absence of the contribution of genetic interactions to phenotypic variation, but instead is a consequence of the technical limitations in mapping gene-gene interactions (GGI) and gene-environment interactions (GEI). Yeast, with its detailed molecular understanding, diverse population genomics and ease of genetic manipulation, is a unique and powerful resource to study the contributions of GGI and GEI in the regulation of phenotypic variation. Here we review studies in yeast that have identified GGI and GEI that regulate phenotypic variation, and discuss the contribution of these findings in explaining missing heritability of complex traits, and how observations from these GGI and GEI studies enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying genetic robustness and adaptability that shape the architecture of the genotype-phenotype map.

Functional characterization of adaptive variation within a cis-regulatory element influencing Drosophila melanogaster growth

Gene expression variation is a major contributor to phenotypic diversity within species and is thought to play an important role in adaptation. However, examples of adaptive regulatory polymorphism are rare, especially those that have been characterized at both the molecular genetic level and the organismal level. In this study, we perform a functional analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster CG9509 enhancer, a cis-regulatory element that shows evidence of adaptive evolution in populations outside the species’ ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa. Using site-directed mutagenesis and transgenic reporter gene assays, we determined that 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms are responsible for the difference in CG9509 expression that is observed between sub-Saharan African and cosmopolitan populations. Interestingly, while 2 of these variants appear to have been the targets of a selective sweep outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the variant with the largest effect on expression remains polymorphic in cosmopolitan populations, suggesting it may be subject to a different mode of selection. To elucidate the function of CG9509, we performed a series of functional and tolerance assays on flies in which CG9509 expression was disrupted. We found that CG9509 plays a role in larval growth and influences adult body and wing size, as well as wing loading. Furthermore, variation in several of these traits was associated with variation within the CG9509 enhancer. The effect on growth appears to result from a modulation of active ecdysone levels and expression of growth factors. Taken together, our findings suggest that selection acted on 3 sites within the CG9509 enhancer to increase CG9509 expression and, as a result, reduce wing loading as D. melanogaster expanded out of sub-Saharan Africa.

Much of the phenotypic variation that is observed within species is thought to be caused by variation in gene expression. Variants within cis-regulatory elements, which affect the expression of nearby genes within the same DNA strand, are thought to be an abundant resource upon which natural selection can act. Understanding the functional consequences of adaptive cis-regulatory changes is important, as it can help elucidate the mechanisms underlying phenotypic evolution in general and provide insight into the development and maintenance of biodiversity. However, functional analyses of these types of changes remain rare. Here we present a functional analysis of an adaptively evolving enhancer element of a D. melanogaster gene called CG9509, of previously unknown function. We show that 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms located within the enhancer of this gene are responsible for an increase in CG9509 expression in cosmopolitan populations (outside of south and central Africa) relative to sub-Saharan populations, which include ancestral populations. We further show that CG9509 is involved in the regulation of growth rate and body size determination and propose that the CG9509 enhancer underwent positive selection to reduce wing loading as the species expanded out of sub-Saharan Africa.

Cis-Regulatory Divergence in Gene Expression between Two Thermally Divergent Yeast Species

Gene regulation is a ubiquitous mechanism by which organisms respond to their environment. While organisms are often found to be adapted to the environments they experience, the role of gene regulation in environmental adaptation is not often known. In this study, we examine divergence in cis-regulatory effects between two Saccharomycesspecies, S. cerevisiaeand S. uvarum, that have substantially diverged in their thermal growth profile. We measured allele specific expression (ASE) in the species’ hybrid at three temperatures, the highest of which is lethal to S. uvarumbut not the hybrid or S. cerevisiae. We find that S. uvarumalleles can be expressed at the same level as S. cerevisiaealleles at high temperature and most cis-acting differences in gene expression are not dependent on temperature. While a small set of 136 genes show temperature-dependent ASE, we find no indication that signatures of directional cis-regulatory evolution are associated with temperature. Within promoter regions we find binding sites enriched upstream of temperature responsive genes, but only weak correlations between binding site and expression divergence. Our results indicate that temperature divergence between S. cerevisiaeand S. uvarumhas not caused widespread divergence in cis-regulatory activity, but point to a small subset of genes where the species’ alleles show differences in magnitude or opposite responses to temperature. The difficulty of explaining divergence in cis-regulatory sequences with models of transcription factor binding sites and nucleosome positioning highlights the importance of identifying mutations that underlie cis-regulatory divergence between species.

High-resolution mapping of cis-regulatory variation in budding yeast

Genetic variants affecting gene-expression levels are a major source of phenotypic variation. The approximate locations of these variants can be mapped as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs); however, a major limitation of eQTLs is their low resolution, which precludes investigation of the causal variants and their molecular mechanisms. Here we report RNA-seq and full genome sequences for 85 diverse isolates of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae-including wild, domesticated, and human clinical strains-which allowed us to perform eQTL mapping with 50-fold higher resolution than previously possible. In addition to variants in promoters, we uncovered an important role for variants in 3'UTRs, especially those affecting binding of the PUF family of RNA-binding proteins. The eQTLs are predominantly under negative selection, particularly those affecting essential genes and conserved genes. However, applying the sign test for lineage-specific selection revealed the polygenic up-regulation of dozens of biofilm suppressor genes in strains isolated from human patients, consistent with the key role of biofilms in fungal pathogenicity. In addition, a single variant in the promoter of a biofilm suppressor, NIT3, showed the strongest genome-wide association with clinical origin. Altogether, our results demonstrate the power of high-resolution eQTL mapping in understanding the molecular mechanisms of regulatory variation, as well as the natural selection acting on this variation that drives adaptation to environments, ranging from laboratories to vineyards to the human body.

Genetic basis of mycotoxin susceptibility differences between budding yeast isolates

Micophenolic acid (MPA) is an immunosuppressant mycotoxin which impairs yeast cell growth to variable degrees depending on the genetic background. Such variation could have emerged from several phenomena, including MPA gene resistance mutations and variations in copy number and localisation of resistance genes. To test this, we evaluated MPA susceptibility in four S. cerevisiae isolates and genetically dissected variation through the identification of Quantitative Trait Loci. Via linkage analysis we identified six QTLs, majority of which were located within subtelomeres and co-localised with IMD2, an inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase previously identified underlying MPA drug resistance in yeast cells. From chromosome end disruption and bioinformatics analysis, it was found that the subtelomere localisation of IMD2 within chromosome ends is variable depending on the strain, demonstrating the influence of IMD2 on the natural variation in yeast MPA susceptibility. Furthermore, GxE gene expression analysis of strains exhibiting opposite phenotypes indicated that ribosome biogenesis, RNA transport, and purine biosynthesis were impaired in strains most susceptible to MPA toxicity. Our results demonstrate that natural variation can be exploited to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying mycotoxin susceptibility in eukaryote cells and demonstrate the role of subtelomeric regions in mediating interactions with the environment.

Cis-regulatory evolution in prokaryotes revealed by interspecific archaeal hybrids

The study of allele-specific expression (ASE) in interspecific hybrids has played a central role in our understanding of a wide range of phenomena, including genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, and cis-regulatory evolution. However across the hundreds of studies of hybrid ASE, all have been restricted to sexually reproducing eukaryotes, leaving a major gap in our understanding of the genomic patterns of cis-regulatory evolution in prokaryotes. Here we introduce a method to generate stable hybrids between two species of halophilic archaea, and measure genome-wide ASE in these hybrids with RNA-seq. We found that over half of all genes have significant ASE, and that genes encoding kinases show evidence of lineage-specific selection on their cis-regulation. This pattern of polygenic selection suggested species-specific adaptation to low phosphate conditions, which we confirmed with growth experiments. Altogether, our work extends the study of ASE to archaea, and suggests that cis-regulation can evolve under polygenic lineage-specific selection in prokaryotes.

Natural gene expression variation studies in yeast

The rise of sequence information across different yeast species and strains is driving an increasing number of studies in the emerging field of genomics to associate polymorphic variants, mRNA abundance and phenotypic differences between individuals. Here, we gathered evidence from recent studies covering several layers that define the genotype-phenotype gap, such as mRNA abundance, allele-specific expression and translation efficiency to demonstrate how genetic variants co-evolve and define an individual's genome. Moreover, we exposed several antecedents where inter- and intra-specific studies led to opposite conclusions, probably owing to genetic divergence. Future studies in this area will benefit from the access to a massive array of well-annotated genomes and new sequencing technologies, which will allow the fine breakdown of the complex layers that delineate the genotype-phenotype map. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Exploiting budding yeast natural variation for industrial processes

For the last two decades, the natural variation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been massively exploited with the aim of understanding ecological and evolutionary processes. As a result, many new genetic variants have been uncovered, providing a large catalogue of alleles underlying complex traits. These alleles represent a rich genetic resource with the potential to provide new strains that can cope with the growing demands of industrial fermentation processes. When surveyed in detail, several of these variants have proven useful in wine and beer industries by improving nitrogen utilisation, fermentation kinetics, ethanol production, sulphite resistance and aroma production. Here, I illustrate how allele-specific expression and polymorphisms within the coding region of GDB1 underlie fermentation kinetic differences in synthetic wine must. Nevertheless, the genetic basis of how GDB1 variants and other natural alleles interact in foreign genetic backgrounds remains unclear. Further studies in large sets of strains, recombinant hybrids and multiple parental pairs will broaden our knowledge of the molecular and genetic basis of trait adaptation for utilisation in applied and industrial processes.

Natural variation in non-coding regions underlying phenotypic diversity in budding yeast

Linkage mapping studies in model organisms have typically focused their efforts in polymorphisms within coding regions, ignoring those within regulatory regions that may contribute to gene expression variation. In this context, differences in transcript abundance are frequently proposed as a source of phenotypic diversity between individuals, however, until now, little molecular evidence has been provided. Here, we examined Allele Specific Expression (ASE) in six F1 hybrids from Saccharomyces cerevisiae derived from crosses between representative strains of the four main lineages described in yeast. ASE varied between crosses with levels ranging between 28% and 60%. Part of the variation in expression levels could be explained by differences in transcription factors binding to polymorphic cis-regulations and to differences in trans-activation depending on the allelic form of the TF. Analysis on highly expressed alleles on each background suggested ASN1 as a candidate transcript underlying nitrogen consumption differences between two strains. Further promoter allele swap analysis under fermentation conditions confirmed that coding and non-coding regions explained aspartic and glutamic acid consumption differences, likely due to a polymorphism affecting Uga3 binding. Together, we provide a new catalogue of variants to bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype.

Dissecting the Genetic Basis of a Complex cis-Regulatory Adaptation

Although single genes underlying several evolutionary adaptations have been identified, the genetic basis of complex, polygenic adaptations has been far more challenging to pinpoint. Here we report that the budding yeast Saccharomyces paradoxus has recently evolved resistance to citrinin, a naturally occurring mycotoxin. Applying a genome-wide test for selection on cis-regulation, we identified five genes involved in the citrinin response that are constitutively up-regulated in S. paradoxus. Four of these genes are necessary for resistance, and are also sufficient to increase the resistance of a sensitive strain when over-expressed. Moreover, cis-regulatory divergence in the promoters of these genes contributes to resistance, while exacting a cost in the absence of citrinin. Our results demonstrate how the subtle effects of individual regulatory elements can be combined, via natural selection, into a complex adaptation. Our approach can be applied to dissect the genetic basis of polygenic adaptations in a wide range of species.

Population perspectives on functional genomic variation in yeast

Advances in high-throughput sequencing have facilitated large-scale surveys of genomic variation in the budding yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae These surveys have revealed extensive sequence variation between yeast strains. However, much less is known about how such variation influences the amount and nature of variation for functional genomic traits within and between yeast lineages. We review population-level studies of functional genomic variation, with a particular focus on how population functional genomic approaches can provide insights into both genome function and the evolutionary process. Although variation in functional genomics phenotypes is pervasive, our understanding of the consequences of this variation, either in physiological or evolutionary terms, is still rudimentary and thus motivates increased attention to appropriate null models. To date, much of the focus of population functional genomic studies has been on gene expression variation, but other functional genomic data types are just as likely to reveal important insights at the population level, suggesting a pressing need for more studies that go beyond transcription. Finally, we discuss how a population functional genomic perspective can be a powerful approach for developing a mechanistic understanding of the processes that link genomic variation to organismal phenotypes through gene networks.

Deciphering Genome Content and Evolutionary Relationships of Isolates from the Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae Attacking Different Host Plants

Deciphering the genetic bases of pathogen adaptation to its host is a key question in ecology and evolution. To understand how the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae adapts to different plants, we sequenced eight M. oryzae isolates differing in host specificity (rice, foxtail millet, wheat, and goosegrass), and one Magnaporthe grisea isolate specific of crabgrass. Analysis of Magnaporthe genomes revealed small variation in genome sizes (39–43 Mb) and gene content (12,283–14,781 genes) between isolates. The whole set of Magnaporthe genes comprised 14,966 shared families, 63% of which included genes present in all the nine M. oryzae genomes. The evolutionary relationships among Magnaporthe isolates were inferred using 6,878 single-copy orthologs. The resulting genealogy was mostly bifurcating among the different host-specific lineages, but was reticulate inside the rice lineage. We detected traces of introgression from a nonrice genome in the rice reference 70-15 genome. Among M. oryzae isolates and host-specific lineages, the genome composition in terms of frequencies of genes putatively involved in pathogenicity (effectors, secondary metabolism, cazome) was conserved. However, 529 shared families were found only in nonrice lineages, whereas the rice lineage possessed 86 specific families absent from the nonrice genomes. Our results confirmed that the host specificity of M. oryzae isolates was associated with a divergence between lineages without major gene flow and that, despite the strong conservation of gene families between lineages, adaptation to different hosts, especially to rice, was associated with the presence of a small number of specific gene families. All information was gathered in a public database (http://genome.jouy.inra.fr/gemo).

Review of current methods for characterizing virulence and pathogenicity potential of industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains towards humans

Most industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains used in food or biotechnology processes are benign. However, reports of S. cerevisiae infections have emerged and novel strains continue to be developed. In order to develop recommendations for the human health risk assessment of S. cerevisiae strains, we conducted a literature review of current methods used to characterize their pathogenic potential and evaluated their relevance towards risk assessment. These studies revealed that expression of virulence traits in S. cerevisiae is complex and depends on many factors. Given the opportunistic nature of this organism, an approach using multiple lines of evidence is likely necessary for the reasonable prediction of the pathogenic potential of a particular strain. Risk assessment of S. cerevisiae strains would benefit from more research towards the comparison of virulent and non-virulent strains in order to better understand those genotypic and phenotypic traits most likely to be associated with pathogenicity.

Differential regulation of antagonistic pleiotropy in synthetic and natural populations suggests its role in adaptation

Antagonistic pleiotropy (AP), the ability of a gene to show opposing effects in different phenotypes, has been identified in various life history traits and complex disorders, indicating its fundamental role in balancing fitness over the course of evolution. It is intuitive that natural selection might maintain AP to allow organisms phenotypic flexibility in different environments. However, despite several attempts, little evidence exists for its role in adaptation. We performed a meta-analysis in yeast to identify the genetic basis of AP in bi-parental segregants, natural isolates, and a laboratory strain genome-wide deletion collection, by comparing growth in favorable and stress conditions. We found that whereas AP was abundant in the synthetic populations, it was absent in the natural isolates. This finding indicated resolution of trade-offs, i.e., mitigation of trade-offs over evolutionary history, probably through accumulation of compensatory mutations. In the deletion collection, organizational genes showed AP, suggesting ancient resolutions of trade-offs in the basic cellular pathways. We find abundant AP in the segregants, greater than estimated in the deletion collection or observed in previous studies, with IRA2, a negative regulator of the Ras/PKA signaling pathway, showing trade-offs across diverse environments. Additionally, IRA2 and several other Ras/PKA pathway genes showed balancing selection in isolates of S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus, indicating that multiple alleles maintain AP in this pathway in natural populations. We propose that during AP resolution, retaining the ability to vary signaling pathways such as Ras/PKA, may provide organisms with phenotypic flexibility. However, with increasing organismal complexity AP resolution may become difficult. A partial resolution of AP could manifest as complex human diseases, and the inability to resolve AP may play a role in speciation. Our findings suggest that testing a universal phenomenon like AP across multiple experimental systems may elucidate mechanisms underlying its regulation and evolution.

Reshuffling transcriptional circuits: how microorganisms adapt to colonize the human body

Several hundred taxa of microorganisms-including bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes-inhabit the human body. What did it take for these species to become stable residents of humans? Recent reports illustrate how evolutionary changes in transcriptional circuits played a pivotal role in the adaptation of single-celled eukaryotes to colonize mammals.

Using genomics to characterize evolutionary potential for conservation of wild populations

Genomics promises exciting advances towards the important conservation goal of maximizing evolutionary potential, notwithstanding associated challenges. Here, we explore some of the complexity of adaptation genetics and discuss the strengths and limitations of genomics as a tool for characterizing evolutionary potential in the context of conservation management. Many traits are polygenic and can be strongly influenced by minor differences in regulatory networks and by epigenetic variation not visible in DNA sequence. Much of this critical complexity is difficult to detect using methods commonly used to identify adaptive variation, and this needs appropriate consideration when planning genomic screens, and when basing management decisions on genomic data. When the genomic basis of adaptation and future threats are well understood, it may be appropriate to focus management on particular adaptive traits. For more typical conservations scenarios, we argue that screening genome-wide variation should be a sensible approach that may provide a generalized measure of evolutionary potential that accounts for the contributions of small-effect loci and cryptic variation and is robust to uncertainty about future change and required adaptive response(s). The best conservation outcomes should be achieved when genomic estimates of evolutionary potential are used within an adaptive management framework.

Identification of loci that cause phenotypic variation in diverse species with the reciprocal hemizygosity test

The reciprocal hemizygosity test is a straightforward genetic test that can positively identify genes that have evolved to contribute to a phenotypic difference between strains or between species. The test involves a comparison between hybrids that are genetically identical throughout the genome except at the test locus, which is rendered hemizygous for alternative alleles from the two parental strains. If the two reciprocal hemizygotes display different phenotypes, then the two parental alleles must have evolved. New methods for targeted mutagenesis will allow application of the reciprocal hemizygosity test in many organisms. This review discusses the principles, advantages, and limitations of the test.

Transcriptomic insights into human brain evolution: acceleration, neutrality, heterochrony

Primate brain transcriptome comparisons within the last 12 years have yielded interesting but contradictory observations on how the transcriptome evolves, and its adaptive role in human cognitive evolution. Since the human-chimpanzee common ancestor, the human prefrontal cortex transcriptome seems to have evolved more than that of the chimpanzee. But at the same time, most expression differences among species, especially those observed in adults, appear as consequences of neutral evolution at cis-regulatory sites. Adaptive expression changes in the human brain may be rare events involving timing shifts, or heterochrony, in specific neurodevelopmental processes. Disentangling adaptive and neutral expression changes, and associating these with human-specific features of the brain require improved methods, comparisons across more species, and further work on comparative development.

Insights into molecular evolution from yeast genomics

Enabled by comparative genomics, yeasts have increasingly developed into a powerful model system for molecular evolution. Here we survey several areas in which yeast studies have made important contributions, including regulatory evolution, gene duplication and divergence, evolution of gene order and evolution of complexity. In each area we highlight key studies and findings based on techniques ranging from statistical analysis of large datasets to direct laboratory measurements of fitness. Future work will combine traditional evolutionary genetics analysis and experimental evolution with tools from systems biology to yield mechanistic insight into complex phenotypes.

Evolution at two levels of gene expression in yeast

Despite the greater functional importance of protein levels, our knowledge of gene expression evolution is based almost entirely on studies of mRNA levels. In contrast, our understanding of how translational regulation evolves has lagged far behind. Here we have applied ribosome profiling—which measures both global mRNA levels and their translation rates—to two species of Saccharomyces yeast and their interspecific hybrid in order to assess the relative contributions of changes in mRNA abundance and translation to regulatory evolution. We report that both cis- and trans-acting regulatory divergence in translation are abundant, affecting at least 35% of genes. The majority of translational divergence acts to buffer changes in mRNA abundance, suggesting a widespread role for stabilizing selection acting across regulatory levels. Nevertheless, we observe evidence of lineage-specific selection acting on several yeast functional modules, including instances of reinforcing selection acting at both levels of regulation. Finally, we also uncover multiple instances of stop-codon readthrough that are conserved between species. Our analysis reveals the underappreciated complexity of post-transcriptional regulatory divergence and indicates that partitioning the search for the locus of selection into the binary categories of “coding” versus “regulatory” may overlook a significant source of selection, acting at multiple regulatory levels along the path from genotype to phenotype.

Inferring evolutionary histories of pathway regulation from transcriptional profiling data

One of the outstanding challenges in comparative genomics is to interpret the evolutionary importance of regulatory variation between species. Rigorous molecular evolution-based methods to infer evidence for natural selection from expression data are at a premium in the field, and to date, phylogenetic approaches have not been well-suited to address the question in the small sets of taxa profiled in standard surveys of gene expression. We have developed a strategy to infer evolutionary histories from expression profiles by analyzing suites of genes of common function. In a manner conceptually similar to molecular evolution models in which the evolutionary rates of DNA sequence at multiple loci follow a gamma distribution, we modeled expression of the genes of an a priori-defined pathway with rates drawn from an inverse gamma distribution. We then developed a fitting strategy to infer the parameters of this distribution from expression measurements, and to identify gene groups whose expression patterns were consistent with evolutionary constraint or rapid evolution in particular species. Simulations confirmed the power and accuracy of our inference method. As an experimental testbed for our approach, we generated and analyzed transcriptional profiles of four Saccharomyces yeasts. The results revealed pathways with signatures of constrained and accelerated regulatory evolution in individual yeasts and across the phylogeny, highlighting the prevalence of pathway-level expression change during the divergence of yeast species. We anticipate that our pathway-based phylogenetic approach will be of broad utility in the search to understand the evolutionary relevance of regulatory change.

Comparative transcriptomic studies routinely identify thousands of genes differentially expressed between species. The central question in the field is whether and how such regulatory changes have been the product of natural selection. Can the signal of evolutionarily relevant expression divergence be detected amid the noise of changes resulting from genetic drift? Our work develops a theory of gene expression variation among a suite of genes that function together. We derive a formalism that relates empirical observations of expression of pathway genes in divergent species to the underlying strength of natural selection on expression output. We show that fitting this type of model to simulated data accurately recapitulates the parameters used to generate the simulation. We then make experimental measurements of gene expression in a panel of single-celled eukaryotic yeast species. To these data we apply our inference method, and identify pathways with striking evidence for accelerated or constrained regulatory evolution, in particular species and across the phylogeny. Our method provides a key advance over previous approaches in that it maximizes the power of rigorous molecular-evolution analysis of regulatory variation even when data are relatively sparse. As such, the theory and tools we have developed will likely find broad application in the field of comparative genomics.

The molecular mechanism of a cis-regulatory adaptation in yeast

Despite recent advances in our ability to detect adaptive evolution involving the cis-regulation of gene expression, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptations has lagged far behind. Across all model organisms, the causal mutations have been discovered for only a handful of gene expression adaptations, and even for these, mechanistic details (e.g. the trans-regulatory factors involved) have not been determined. We previously reported a polygenic gene expression adaptation involving down-regulation of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism of a cis-acting mutation affecting a member of this pathway, ERG28. We show that the causal mutation is a two-base deletion in the promoter of ERG28 that strongly reduces the binding of two transcription factors, Sok2 and Mot3, thus abolishing their regulation of ERG28. This down-regulation increases resistance to a widely used antifungal drug targeting ergosterol, similar to mutations disrupting this pathway in clinical yeast isolates. The identification of the causal genetic variant revealed that the selection likely occurred after the deletion was already present at high frequency in the population, rather than when it was a new mutation. These results provide a detailed view of the molecular mechanism of a cis-regulatory adaptation, and underscore the importance of this view to our understanding of evolution at the molecular level.

Evolutionary adaptation is the process that has given rise to the ubiquitous, yet remarkable, fit between all living organisms and their environments. The molecular mechanisms of these adaptations have been a subject of great interest, but we still know very little about their mechanisms, particularly in the case of regulatory adaptations. In this work, we investigate the molecular mechanism of a regulatory adaptation that we previously identified in ERG28, a component of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway in budding yeast. Ergosterol is an abundant lipid component of the fungal plasma membrane, and is of major biomedical importance, being targeted by numerous antifungal drugs. We identified the causal mutation underlying the ERG28 adaptation, a two-base deletion in its promoter which leads to lower abundance of its mRNA. This deletion acts via disrupting the binding of at least two transcription factors, Mot3 and Sok2, to the promoter. The deletion increases resistance to a widely used antifungal drug, Amphotericin B, which targets ergosterol. This effect is reminiscent of misregulation of the ergosterol pathway observed in clinical yeast isolates that have evolved resistance to Amphotericin B. Our results may therefore have medical implications, while also advancing our basic understanding of evolutionary mechanisms.

Histone variant HTZ1 shows extensive epistasis with, but does not increase robustness to, new mutations

Biological systems produce phenotypes that appear to be robust to perturbation by mutations and environmental variation. Prior studies identified genes that, when impaired, reveal previously cryptic genetic variation. This result is typically interpreted as evidence that the disrupted gene normally increases robustness to mutations, as such robustness would allow cryptic variants to accumulate. However, revelation of cryptic genetic variation is not necessarily evidence that a mutationally robust state has been made less robust. Demonstrating a difference in robustness requires comparing the ability of each state (with the gene perturbed or intact) to suppress the effects of new mutations. Previous studies used strains in which the existing genetic variation had been filtered by selection. Here, we use mutation accumulation (MA) lines that have experienced minimal selection, to test the ability of histone H2A.Z (HTZ1) to increase robustness to mutations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. HTZ1, a regulator of chromatin structure and gene expression, represents a class of genes implicated in mutational robustness. It had previously been shown to increase robustness of yeast cell morphology to fluctuations in the external or internal microenvironment. We measured morphological variation within and among 79 MA lines with and without HTZ1. Analysis of within-line variation confirms that HTZ1 increases microenvironmental robustness. Analysis of between-line variation shows the morphological effects of eliminating HTZ1 to be highly dependent on the line, which implies that HTZ1 interacts with mutations that have accumulated in the lines. However, lines without HTZ1 are, as a group, not more phenotypically diverse than lines with HTZ1 present. The presence of HTZ1, therefore, does not confer greater robustness to mutations than its absence. Our results provide experimental evidence that revelation of cryptic genetic variation cannot be assumed to be caused by loss of robustness, and therefore force reevaluation of prior claims based on that assumption.

Gene expression drives local adaptation in humans

The molecular basis of adaptation--and, in particular, the relative roles of protein-coding versus gene expression changes--has long been the subject of speculation and debate. Recently, the genotyping of diverse human populations has led to the identification of many putative "local adaptations" that differ between populations. Here I show that these local adaptations are over 10-fold more likely to affect gene expression than amino acid sequence. In addition, a novel framework for identifying polygenic local adaptations detects recent positive selection on the expression levels of genes involved in UV radiation response, immune cell proliferation, and diabetes-related pathways. These results provide the first examples of polygenic gene expression adaptation in humans, as well as the first genome-scale support for the hypothesis that changes in gene expression have driven human adaptation.

Saccharomyces diversity and evolution: a budding model genus

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the best-understood and most powerful genetic model systems. Several disciplines are now converging to turn Saccharomyces into an exciting model genus for evolutionary genetics and genomics. Yeast taxonomists and ecologists have dramatically expanded and clarified Saccharomyces diversity, more than doubling the number of bona fide species since 2000. High-quality genome sequences are available (or soon will be) for all seven known species. Haploid laboratory strains are enabling a deep integration of classic genetic approaches with modern genomic tools. Population genomic surveys and quantitative trait mapping of variation within species are underway across the genus. Finally, several case studies have illuminated general and novel genetic mechanisms of evolution. Expanding strain collections, low-cost genome sequencing, and tools for precise genetic manipulation promise to usher in a golden era for this surprisingly diverse genus as an evolutionary model.