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Lee U, Li C, Langer CB, Svetec N, Zhao L. Comparative Single Cell Analysis of Transcriptional Bursting Reveals the Role of Genome Organization on de novo Transcript Origination. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.29.591771. [PMID: 38746255 PMCID: PMC11092510 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.29.591771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a key developmental process underlying the origination of newly evolved genes. However, rapid cell type-specific transcriptomic divergence of the Drosophila germline has posed a significant technical barrier for comparative single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) studies. By quantifying a surprisingly strong correlation between species-and cell type-specific divergence in three closely related Drosophila species, we apply a simple statistical procedure to identify a core set of 198 genes that are highly predictive of cell type identity while remaining robust to species-specific differences that span over 25-30 million years of evolution. We then utilize cell type classifications based on the 198-gene set to show how transcriptional divergence in cell type increases throughout spermatogenic developmental time, contrasting with traditional hourglass models of whole-organism development. With these cross-species cell type classifications, we then investigate the influence of genome organization on the molecular evolution of spermatogenesis vis-a-vis transcriptional bursting. We first demonstrate how mechanistic control of pre-meiotic transcription is achieved by altering transcriptional burst size while post-meiotic control is exerted via altered bursting frequency. We then report how global differences in autosomal vs. X chromosomal transcription likely arise in a developmental stage preceding full testis organogenesis by showing evolutionarily conserved decreases in X-linked transcription bursting kinetics in all examined somatic and germline cell types. Finally, we provide evidence supporting the cultivator model of de novo gene origination by demonstrating how the appearance of newly evolved testis-specific transcripts potentially provides short-range regulation of the transcriptional bursting properties of neighboring genes during key stages of spermatogenesis.
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2
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Zhao L, Zhou W, He J, Li DZ, Li HT. Positive selection and relaxed purifying selection contribute to rapid evolution of male-biased genes in a dioecious flowering plant. eLife 2024; 12:RP89941. [PMID: 38353667 PMCID: PMC10942601 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Sex-biased genes offer insights into the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Sex-biased genes, especially those with male bias, show elevated evolutionary rates of protein sequences driven by positive selection and relaxed purifying selection in animals. Although rapid sequence evolution of sex-biased genes and evolutionary forces have been investigated in animals and brown algae, less is known about evolutionary forces in dioecious angiosperms. In this study, we separately compared the expression of sex-biased genes between female and male floral buds and between female and male flowers at anthesis in dioecious Trichosanthes pilosa (Cucurbitaceae). In floral buds, sex-biased gene expression was pervasive, and had significantly different roles in sexual dimorphism such as physiology. We observed higher rates of sequence evolution for male-biased genes in floral buds compared to female-biased and unbiased genes. Male-biased genes under positive selection were mainly associated with functions to abiotic stress and immune responses, suggesting that high evolutionary rates are driven by adaptive evolution. Additionally, relaxed purifying selection may contribute to accelerated evolution in male-biased genes generated by gene duplication. Our findings, for the first time in angiosperms, suggest evident rapid evolution of male-biased genes, advance our understanding of the patterns and forces driving the evolution of sexual dimorphism in dioecious plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhao
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming, YunnanChina
| | - Wei Zhou
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming, YunnanChina
| | - Jun He
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming, YunnanChina
| | - De-Zhu Li
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming, YunnanChina
- Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
| | - Hong-Tao Li
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species & Yunnan Key Laboratory of Crop Wild Relatives Omics, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesKunming, YunnanChina
- Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesKunmingChina
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3
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Bontonou G, Saint-Leandre B, Kafle T, Baticle T, Hassan A, Sánchez-Alcañiz JA, Arguello JR. Evolution of chemosensory tissues and cells across ecologically diverse Drosophilids. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1047. [PMID: 38316749 PMCID: PMC10844241 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44558-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Chemosensory tissues exhibit significant between-species variability, yet the evolution of gene expression and cell types underlying this diversity remain poorly understood. To address these questions, we conducted transcriptomic analyses of five chemosensory tissues from six Drosophila species and integrated the findings with single-cell datasets. While stabilizing selection predominantly shapes chemosensory transcriptomes, thousands of genes in each tissue have evolved expression differences. Genes that have changed expression in one tissue have often changed in multiple other tissues but at different past epochs and are more likely to be cell type-specific than unchanged genes. Notably, chemosensory-related genes have undergone widespread expression changes, with numerous species-specific gains/losses including novel chemoreceptors expression patterns. Sex differences are also pervasive, including a D. melanogaster-specific excess of male-biased expression in sensory and muscle cells in its forelegs. Together, our analyses provide new insights for understanding evolutionary changes in chemosensory tissues at both global and individual gene levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gwénaëlle Bontonou
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Bastien Saint-Leandre
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Tane Kafle
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tess Baticle
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Afrah Hassan
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - J Roman Arguello
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
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4
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Puixeu G, Macon A, Vicoso B. Sex-specific estimation of cis and trans regulation of gene expression in heads and gonads of Drosophila melanogaster. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2023; 13:jkad121. [PMID: 37259621 PMCID: PMC10411594 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The regulatory architecture of gene expression is known to differ substantially between sexes in Drosophila, but most studies performed so far used whole-body data and only single crosses, which may have limited their scope to detect patterns that are robust across tissues and biological replicates. Here, we use allele-specific gene expression of parental and reciprocal hybrid crosses between 6 Drosophila melanogaster inbred lines to quantify cis- and trans-regulatory variation in heads and gonads of both sexes separately across 3 replicate crosses. Our results suggest that female and male heads, as well as ovaries, have a similar regulatory architecture. On the other hand, testes display more and substantially different cis-regulatory effects, suggesting that sex differences in the regulatory architecture that have been previously observed may largely derive from testis-specific effects. We also examine the difference in cis-regulatory variation of genes across different levels of sex bias in gonads and heads. Consistent with the idea that intersex correlations constrain expression and can lead to sexual antagonism, we find more cis variation in unbiased and moderately biased genes in heads. In ovaries, reduced cis variation is observed for male-biased genes, suggesting that cis variants acting on these genes in males do not lead to changes in ovary expression. Finally, we examine the dominance patterns of gene expression and find that sex- and tissue-specific patterns of inheritance as well as trans-regulatory variation are highly variable across biological crosses, although these were performed in highly controlled experimental conditions. This highlights the importance of using various genetic backgrounds to infer generalizable patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemma Puixeu
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
| | - Ariana Macon
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
| | - Beatriz Vicoso
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
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5
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Hu Qian S, Shi MW, Wang DY, Fear JM, Chen L, Tu YX, Liu HS, Zhang Y, Zhang SJ, Yu SS, Oliver B, Chen ZX. Integrating massive RNA-seq data to elucidate transcriptome dynamics in Drosophila melanogaster. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:bbad177. [PMID: 37232385 PMCID: PMC10505420 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The volume of ribonucleic acid (RNA)-seq data has increased exponentially, providing numerous new insights into various biological processes. However, due to significant practical challenges, such as data heterogeneity, it is still difficult to ensure the quality of these data when integrated. Although some quality control methods have been developed, sample consistency is rarely considered and these methods are susceptible to artificial factors. Here, we developed MassiveQC, an unsupervised machine learning-based approach, to automatically download and filter large-scale high-throughput data. In addition to the read quality used in other tools, MassiveQC also uses the alignment and expression quality as model features. Meanwhile, it is user-friendly since the cutoff is generated from self-reporting and is applicable to multimodal data. To explore its value, we applied MassiveQC to Drosophila RNA-seq data and generated a comprehensive transcriptome atlas across 28 tissues from embryogenesis to adulthood. We systematically characterized fly gene expression dynamics and found that genes with high expression dynamics were likely to be evolutionarily young and expressed at late developmental stages, exhibiting high nonsynonymous substitution rates and low phenotypic severity, and they were involved in simple regulatory programs. We also discovered that human and Drosophila had strong positive correlations in gene expression in orthologous organs, revealing the great potential of the Drosophila system for studying human development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Hu Qian
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Meng-Wei Shi
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Dan-Yang Wang
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Justin M Fear
- Section of Developmental Genomics, National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney and Digestive Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Lu Chen
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yi-Xuan Tu
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hong-Shan Liu
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shuai-Jie Zhang
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shan-Shan Yu
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Brian Oliver
- Section of Developmental Genomics, National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney and Digestive Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Zhen-Xia Chen
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, College of Biomedicine and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Section of Developmental Genomics, National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney and Digestive Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Interdisciplinary Sciences Institute, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Shenzhen 518000, China
- Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, China
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6
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Tosto NM, Beasley ER, Wong BBM, Mank JE, Flanagan SP. The roles of sexual selection and sexual conflict in shaping patterns of genome and transcriptome variation. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:981-993. [PMID: 36959239 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02019-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism is one of the most prevalent, and often the most extreme, examples of phenotypic variation within species, and arises primarily from genomic variation that is shared between females and males. Many sexual dimorphisms arise through sex differences in gene expression, and sex-biased expression is one way that a single, shared genome can generate multiple, distinct phenotypes. Although many sexual dimorphisms are expected to result from sexual selection, and many studies have invoked the possible role of sexual selection to explain sex-specific traits, the role of sexual selection in the evolution of sexually dimorphic gene expression remains difficult to differentiate from other forms of sex-specific selection. In this Review, we propose a holistic framework for the study of sex-specific selection and transcriptome evolution. We advocate for a comparative approach, across tissues, developmental stages and species, which incorporates an understanding of the molecular mechanisms, including genomic variation and structure, governing gene expression. Such an approach is expected to yield substantial insights into the evolution of genetic variation and have important applications in a variety of fields, including ecology, evolution and behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M Tosto
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Emily R Beasley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Judith E Mank
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sarah P Flanagan
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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7
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Darolti I, Mank JE. Sex-biased gene expression at single-cell resolution: cause and consequence of sexual dimorphism. Evol Lett 2023; 7:148-156. [PMID: 37251587 PMCID: PMC10210449 DOI: 10.1093/evlett/qrad013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Gene expression differences between males and females are thought to be key for the evolution of sexual dimorphism, and sex-biased genes are often used to study the molecular footprint of sex-specific selection. However, gene expression is often measured from complex aggregations of diverse cell types, making it difficult to distinguish between sex differences in expression that are due to regulatory rewiring within similar cell types and those that are simply a consequence of developmental differences in cell-type abundance. To determine the role of regulatory versus developmental differences underlying sex-biased gene expression, we use single-cell transcriptomic data from multiple somatic and reproductive tissues of male and female guppies, a species that exhibits extensive phenotypic sexual dimorphism. Our analysis of gene expression at single-cell resolution demonstrates that nonisometric scaling between the cell populations within each tissue and heterogeneity in cell-type abundance between the sexes can influence inferred patterns of sex-biased gene expression by increasing both the false-positive and false-negative rates. Moreover, we show that, at the bulk level, the subset of sex-biased genes that are the product of sex differences in cell-type abundance can significantly confound patterns of coding-sequence evolution. Taken together, our results offer a unique insight into the effects of allometry and cellular heterogeneity on perceived patterns of sex-biased gene expression and highlight the power of single-cell RNA-sequencing in distinguishing between sex-biased genes that are the result of regulatory change and those that stem from sex differences in cell-type abundance, and hence are a consequence rather than a cause of sexual dimorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iulia Darolti
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Judith E Mank
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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8
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Nanni AV, Martinez N, Graze R, Morse A, Newman JRB, Jain V, Vlaho S, Signor S, Nuzhdin SV, Renne R, McIntyre LM. Sex-biased expression is associated with chromatin state in D. melanogaster and D. simulans. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.13.523946. [PMID: 36711631 PMCID: PMC9882225 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.13.523946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
We propose a new model for the association of chromatin state and sex-bias in expression. We hypothesize enrichment of open chromatin in the sex where we see expression bias (OS) and closed chromatin in the opposite sex (CO). In this study of D. melanogaster and D. simulans head tissue, sex-bias in expression is associated with H3K4me3 (open mark) in males for male-biased genes and in females for female-biased genes in both species. Sex-bias in expression is also largely conserved in direction and magnitude between the two species on the X and autosomes. In male-biased orthologs, the sex-bias ratio is more divergent between species if both species have H3K27me2me3 marks in females compared to when either or neither species has H3K27me2me3 in females. H3K27me2me3 marks in females are associated with male-bias in expression on the autosomes in both species, but on the X only in D. melanogaster . In female-biased orthologs the relationship between the species for the sex-bias ratio is similar regardless of the H3K27me2me3 marks in males. Female-biased orthologs are more similar in the ratio of sex-bias than male-biased orthologs and there is an excess of male-bias in expression in orthologs that gain/lose sex-bias. There is an excess of male-bias in sex-limited expression in both species suggesting excess male-bias is due to rapid evolution between the species. The X chromosome has an enrichment in male-limited H3K4me3 in both species and an enrichment of sex-bias in expression compared to the autosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adalena V Nanni
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Natalie Martinez
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Rita Graze
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Alison Morse
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Jeremy R B Newman
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Vaibhav Jain
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Srna Vlaho
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sarah Signor
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
| | - Sergey V Nuzhdin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Rolf Renne
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Lauren M McIntyre
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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9
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Khodursky S, Jiang CS, Zheng EB, Vaughan R, Schrider DR, Zhao L. Sex differences in interindividual gene expression variability across human tissues. PNAS NEXUS 2022; 1:pgac243. [PMID: 36712323 PMCID: PMC9802459 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Understanding phenotypic sex differences has long been a goal of biology from both a medical and evolutionary perspective. Although much attention has been paid to mean differences in phenotype between the sexes, little is known about sex differences in phenotypic variability. To gain insight into sex differences in interindividual variability at the molecular level, we analyzed RNA-seq data from 43 tissues from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project (GTEx). Within each tissue, we identified genes that show sex differences in gene expression variability. We found that these sex-differentially variable (SDV) genes are associated with various important biological functions, including sex hormone response, immune response, and other signaling pathways. By analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing data collected from breast epithelial cells, we found that genes with sex differences in gene expression variability in breast tissue tend to be expressed in a cell-type-specific manner. We looked for an association between SDV expression and Graves' disease, a well-known heavily female-biased disease, and found a significant enrichment of Graves' associated genes among genes with higher variability in females in thyroid tissue. This suggests a possible role for SDV expression in sex-biased disease. We then examined the evolutionary constraints acting on genes with sex differences in variability and found that they exhibit evidence of increased selective constraint. Through analysis of sex-biased eQTL data, we found evidence that SDV expression may have a genetic basis. Finally, we propose a simple evolutionary model for the emergence of SDV expression from sex-specific constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Khodursky
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Caroline S Jiang
- Department of Biostatistics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Eric B Zheng
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Roger Vaughan
- Department of Biostatistics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Daniel R Schrider
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Li Zhao
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
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10
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Malacrinò A, Brengdahl MI, Kimber CM, Mital A, Shenoi VN, Mirabello C, Friberg U. Ageing desexualizes the Drosophila brain transcriptome. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221115. [PMID: 35946149 PMCID: PMC9364003 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
General evolutionary theory predicts that individuals in low condition should invest less in sexual traits compared to individuals in high condition. Whether this positive association between condition and investment also holds between young (high condition) and senesced (low condition) individuals is however less clear, since elevated investment into reproduction may be beneficial when individuals approach the end of their life. To address how investment into sexual traits changes with age, we study genes with sex-biased expression in the brain, the tissue from which sexual behaviours are directed. Across two distinct populations of Drosophila melanogaster, we find that old brains display fewer sex-biased genes, and that expression of both male-biased and female-biased genes converges towards a sexually intermediate phenotype owing to changes in both sexes with age. We further find that sex-biased genes in general show heightened age-dependent expression in comparison to unbiased genes and that age-related changes in the sexual brain transcriptome are commonly larger in males than females. Our results hence show that ageing causes a desexualization of the fruit fly brain transcriptome and that this change mirrors the general prediction that low condition individuals should invest less in sexual phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonino Malacrinò
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany,Department of Agriculture, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy
| | | | | | - Avani Mital
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | | | - Claudio Mirabello
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Urban Friberg
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
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11
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Deng D, Xing S, Liu X, Ji Q, Zhai Z, Peng W. Transcriptome analysis of sex-biased gene expression in the spotted-wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura). G3 GENES|GENOMES|GENETICS 2022; 12:6588685. [PMID: 35587603 PMCID: PMC9339319 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkac127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism occurs widely throughout insects and has profound influences on evolutionary path. Sex-biased genes are considered to account for most of phenotypic differences between sexes. In order to explore the sex-biased genes potentially associated with sexual dimorphism and sexual development in Drosophila suzukii, a major devastating and invasive crop pest, we conducted whole-organism transcriptome profiling and sex-biased gene expression analysis on adults of both sexes. We identified transcripts of genes involved in several sex-specific physiological and functional processes, including transcripts involved in sex determination, reproduction, olfaction, and innate immune signals. A total of 11,360 differentially expressed genes were identified in the comparison, and 1,957 differentially expressed genes were female-biased and 4,231 differentially expressed genes were male-biased. The pathway predominantly enriched for differentially expressed genes was related to spliceosome, which might reflect the differences in the alternative splicing mechanism between males and females. Twenty-two sex determination and 16 sex-related reproduction genes were identified, and expression pattern analysis revealed that the majority of genes were differentially expressed between sexes. Additionally, the differences in sex-specific olfactory and immune processes were analyzed and the sex-biased expression of these genes may play important roles in pheromone and odor detection, and immune response. As a valuable dataset, our sex-specific transcriptomic data can significantly contribute to the fundamental elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of sexual dimorphism in fruit flies, and may provide candidate genes potentially useful for the development of genetic sexing strains, an important tool for sterile insect technique applications against this economically important species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Deng
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Developmental Biology of Freshwater Fish, Hunan International Joint Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Ecology and Health, Hunan Normal University , Changsha 410081, China
| | - Shisi Xing
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Developmental Biology of Freshwater Fish, Hunan International Joint Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Ecology and Health, Hunan Normal University , Changsha 410081, China
| | - Xuxiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Key Lab of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Biological Control, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University , Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Qinge Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Ecological Pest Control for Fujian and Taiwan Crops, Key Lab of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Biological Control, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University , Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Zongzhao Zhai
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Developmental Biology of Freshwater Fish, Hunan International Joint Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Ecology and Health, Hunan Normal University , Changsha 410081, China
| | - Wei Peng
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Developmental Biology of Freshwater Fish, Hunan International Joint Laboratory of Animal Intestinal Ecology and Health, Hunan Normal University , Changsha 410081, China
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12
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Yang C, Chen L, Huang R, Gui B, Li Y, Li Y, Li Y, Liao L, Zhu Z, Wang Y. Screening of Genes Related to Sex Determination and Differentiation in Mandarin Fish ( Siniperca chuatsi). Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23147692. [PMID: 35887035 PMCID: PMC9321114 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Mandarin fish has an XX/XY sex-determination system. The female mandarin fish is typically larger than the male. Sex identification and the discovery of genes related to sex determination in mandarin fish have important theoretical significance in the elucidation of the regulation and evolutionary mechanism of animal reproductive development. In this study, the chromosome-level genome of a female mandarin fish was assembled, and we found that LG24 of the genome was an X chromosome. A total of 61 genes on the X chromosome showed sex-biased expression. Only six gonadal genes (LG24G00426, LG24G003280, LG24G003300, LG24G003730, LG24G004200, and LG24G004770) were expressed in the testes, and the expression of the other gene LG24G003870 isoform 1 in the ovaries was significantly higher than that in the testes (p < 0.01). Five (except LG24G003280 and LG24G003300) of the seven aforementioned genes were expressed at the embryonic development stage, suggesting their involvement in early sex determination. The expression of LG24G004770 (encoding HS6ST 3-B-like) was also significantly higher in female muscles than in male muscles (p < 0.01), indicating other functions related to female growth. ZP3 encoded by LG24G003870 isoform 1 increased the C-terminal transmembrane domain, compared with that encoded by other fish zp3 isoforms, indicating their different functions in sex determination or differentiation. This study provides a foundation for the identification of sex-determining genes in mandarin fish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
| | - Liangming Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Rong Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Bin Gui
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yangyu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yangyang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yongming Li
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
| | - Lanjie Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
| | - Zuoyan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
| | - Yaping Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; (C.Y.); (L.C.); (B.G.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (L.L.); (Z.Z.); (Y.W.)
- Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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13
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Stanek TJ, Cao W, Mehra RM, Ellison CE. Sex-specific variation in R-loop formation in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010268. [PMID: 35687614 PMCID: PMC9223372 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
R-loops are three-stranded nucleotide structures consisting of a DNA:RNA hybrid and a displaced ssDNA non-template strand. Previous work suggests that R-loop formation is primarily determined by the thermodynamics of DNA:RNA binding, which are governed by base composition (e.g., GC skew) and transcription-induced DNA superhelicity. However, R-loops have been described at genomic locations that lack these properties, suggesting that they may serve other context-specific roles. To better understand the genetic determinants of R-loop formation, we have characterized the Drosophila melanogaster R-loop landscape across strains and between sexes using DNA:RNA immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (DRIP-seq). We find that R-loops are associated with sequence motifs that are G-rich or exhibit G/C skew, as well as highly expressed genes, tRNAs, and small nuclear RNAs, consistent with a role for DNA sequence and torsion in R-loop specification. However, we also find motifs associated with R-loops that are A/T-rich and lack G/C skew as well as a subset of R-loops that are enriched in polycomb-repressed chromatin. Differential enrichment analysis reveals a small number of sex-biased R-loops: while non-differentially enriched and male-enriched R-loops form at similar genetic features and chromatin states and contain similar sequence motifs, female-enriched R-loops form at unique genetic features, chromatin states, and sequence motifs and are associated with genes that show ovary-biased expression. Male-enriched R-loops are most abundant on the dosage-compensated X chromosome, where R-loops appear stronger compared to autosomal R-loops. R-loop-containing genes on the X chromosome are dosage-compensated yet show lower MOF binding and reduced H4K16ac compared to R-loop-absent genes, suggesting that H4K16ac or MOF may attenuate R-loop formation. Collectively, these results suggest that R-loop formation in vivo is not fully explained by DNA sequence and topology and raise the possibility that a distinct subset of these hybrid structures plays an important role in the establishment and maintenance of epigenetic differences between sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J. Stanek
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Weihuan Cao
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Rohan M Mehra
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Christopher E. Ellison
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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14
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Mank JE. Are plant and animal sex chromosomes really all that different? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210218. [PMID: 35306885 PMCID: PMC8935310 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex chromosomes in plants have often been contrasted with those in animals with the goal of identifying key differences that can be used to elucidate fundamental evolutionary properties. For example, the often homomorphic sex chromosomes in plants have been compared to the highly divergent systems in some animal model systems, such as birds, Drosophila and therian mammals, with many hypotheses offered to explain the apparent dissimilarities, including the younger age of plant sex chromosomes, the lesser prevalence of sexual dimorphism, or the greater extent of haploid selection. Furthermore, many plant sex chromosomes lack complete sex chromosome dosage compensation observed in some animals, including therian mammals, Drosophila, some poeciliids, and Anolis, and plant dosage compensation, where it exists, appears to be incomplete. Even the canonical theoretical models of sex chromosome formation differ somewhat between plants and animals. However, the highly divergent sex chromosomes observed in some animal groups are actually the exception, not the norm, and many animal clades are far more similar to plants in their sex chromosome patterns. This begs the question of how different are plant and animal sex chromosomes, and which of the many unique properties of plants would be expected to affect sex chromosome evolution differently than animals? In fact, plant and animal sex chromosomes exhibit more similarities than differences, and it is not at all clear that they differ in terms of sexual conflict, dosage compensation, or even degree of divergence. Overall, the largest difference between these two groups is the greater potential for haploid selection in plants compared to animals. This may act to accelerate the expansion of the non-recombining region at the same time that it maintains gene function within it. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sex determination and sex chromosome evolution in land plants'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith E Mank
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
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15
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Scharmann M, Rebelo AG, Pannell JR. High rates of evolution preceded shifts to sex-biased gene expression in Leucadendron, the most sexually dimorphic angiosperms. eLife 2021; 10:e67485. [PMID: 34726596 PMCID: PMC8635981 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences between males and females are usually more subtle in dioecious plants than animals, but strong sexual dimorphism has evolved convergently in the South African Cape plant genus Leucadendron. Such sexual dimorphism in leaf size is expected largely to be due to differential gene expression between the sexes. We compared patterns of gene expression in leaves among 10 Leucadendron species across the genus. Surprisingly, we found no positive association between sexual dimorphism in morphology and the number or the percentage of sex-biased genes (SBGs). Sex bias in most SBGs evolved recently and was species specific. We compared rates of evolutionary change in expression for genes that were sex biased in one species but unbiased in others and found that SBGs evolved faster in expression than unbiased genes. This greater rate of expression evolution of SBGs, also documented in animals, might suggest the possible role of sexual selection in the evolution of gene expression. However, our comparative analysis clearly indicates that the more rapid rate of expression evolution of SBGs predated the origin of bias, and shifts towards bias were depleted in signatures of adaptation. Our results are thus more consistent with the view that sex bias is simply freer to evolve in genes less subject to constraints in expression level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Scharmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
| | - Anthony G Rebelo
- Applied Biodiversity Research Division, South African National Biodiversity InstituteCape TownSouth Africa
| | - John R Pannell
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
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16
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Whittle CA, Kulkarni A, Extavour CG. Evolutionary dynamics of sex-biased genes expressed in cricket brains and gonads. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:1188-1211. [PMID: 34114713 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Sex-biased gene expression, particularly sex-biased expression in the gonad, has been linked to rates of protein sequence evolution (nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions, dN/dS) in animals. However, in insects, sex-biased expression studies remain centred on a few holometabolous species. Moreover, other major tissue types such as the brain remain underexplored. Here, we studied sex-biased gene expression and protein evolution in a hemimetabolous insect, the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. We generated novel male and female RNA-seq data for two sexual tissue types, the gonad and somatic reproductive system, and for two core components of the nervous system, the brain and ventral nerve cord. From a genome-wide analysis, we report several core findings. Firstly, testis-biased genes had accelerated evolution, as compared to ovary-biased and unbiased genes, which was associated with positive selection events. Secondly, although sex-biased brain genes were much less common than for the gonad, they exhibited a striking tendency for rapid protein sequence evolution, an effect that was stronger for the female than male brain. Further, some sex-biased brain genes were linked to sexual functions and mating behaviours, which we suggest may have accelerated their evolution via sexual selection. Thirdly, a tendency for narrow cross-tissue expression breadth, suggesting low pleiotropy, was observed for sex-biased brain genes, suggesting relaxed purifying selection, which we speculate may allow enhanced freedom to evolve adaptive protein functional changes. The findings of rapid evolution of testis-biased genes and male and female-biased brain genes are discussed with respect to pleiotropy, positive selection and the mating biology of this cricket.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie A Whittle
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Arpita Kulkarni
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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17
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Jiang H, Lin JQ, Sun L, Xu YC, Fang SG. Sex-Biased Gene Expression and Evolution in the Cerebrum and Syrinx of Chinese Hwamei ( Garrulax canorus). Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12040569. [PMID: 33919806 PMCID: PMC8070764 DOI: 10.3390/genes12040569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
It is common that males and females display sexual dimorphisms, which usually result from sex-biased gene expression. Chinese hwamei (Garrulax canorus) is a good model for studying sex-biased gene expression because the song between the sexes is quite different. In this study, we analyze cerebrum and syrinx sex-biased gene expression and evolution using the de novo assembled Chinese hwamei transcriptome. In both the cerebrum and syrinx, our study revealed that most female-biased genes were actively expressed in females only, while most male-biased genes were actively expressed in both sexes. In addition, both male- and female-biased genes were enriched on the putative Z chromosome, suggesting the existence of sexually antagonistic genes and the insufficient dosage compensation of the Z-linked genes. We also identified a 9 Mb sex linkage region on the putative 4A chromosome which enriched more than 20% of female-biased genes. Resultantly, male-biased genes in both tissues had significantly higher Ka/Ks and effective number of codons (ENCs) than unbiased genes, and this suggested that male-biased genes which exhibit accelerated divergence may have resulted from positive selection. Taken together, our results initially revealed the reasons for the differences in singing behavior between males and females of Chinese hwamei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua Jiang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (H.J.); (J.-Q.L.); (L.S.)
| | - Jian-Qing Lin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (H.J.); (J.-Q.L.); (L.S.)
| | - Li Sun
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (H.J.); (J.-Q.L.); (L.S.)
| | - Yan-Chun Xu
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China;
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation, Harbin 150040, China
| | - Sheng-Guo Fang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, State Conservation Centre for Gene Resources of Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (H.J.); (J.-Q.L.); (L.S.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-571-88206472
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18
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Kulikov AM, Sorokina SY, Melnikov AI, Gornostaev NG, Seleznev DG, Lazebny OE. The effects of the sex chromosomes on the inheritance of species-specific traits of the copulatory organ shape in Drosophila virilis and Drosophila lummei. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0244339. [PMID: 33373382 PMCID: PMC7771703 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The shape of the male genitalia in many taxa is the most rapidly evolving morphological structure, often driving reproductive isolation, and is therefore widely used in systematics as a key character to distinguish between sibling species. However, only a few studies have used the genital arch of the male copulatory organ as a model to study the genetic basis of species-specific differences in the Drosophila copulatory system. Moreover, almost nothing is known about the effects of the sex chromosomes on the shape of the male mating organ. In our study, we used a set of crosses between D. virilis and D. lummei and applied the methods of quantitative genetics to assess the variability of the shape of the male copulatory organ and the effects of the sex chromosomes and autosomes on its variance. Our results showed that the male genital shape depends on the species composition of the sex chromosomes and autosomes. Epistatic interactions of the sex chromosomes with autosomes and the species origin of the Y-chromosome in a male in interspecific crosses also influenced the expression of species-specific traits in the shape of the male copulatory system. Overall, the effects of sex chromosomes were comparable to the effects of autosomes despite the great differences in gene numbers between them. It may be reasonably considered that sexual selection for specific genes associated with the shape of the male mating organ prevents the demasculinization of the X chromosome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex M. Kulikov
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics of Development, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Svetlana Yu. Sorokina
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics of Development, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anton I. Melnikov
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics of Development, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nick G. Gornostaev
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics of Development, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitriy G. Seleznev
- Department of Ecology of Aquatic Invertebrates, Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok village, Yaroslavl Region, Russia
| | - Oleg E. Lazebny
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics of Development, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- * E-mail:
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Belyi A, Argyridou E, Parsch J. The Influence of Chromosomal Environment on X-Linked Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster. Genome Biol Evol 2020; 12:2391-2402. [PMID: 33104185 PMCID: PMC7719225 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex chromosomes often differ from autosomes with respect to their gene expression and regulation. In Drosophila melanogaster, X-linked genes are dosage compensated by having their expression upregulated in the male soma, a process mediated by the X-chromosome-specific binding of the dosage compensation complex (DCC). Previous studies of X-linked gene expression found a negative correlation between a gene’s male-to-female expression ratio and its distance to the nearest DCC binding site in somatic tissues, including head and brain, which suggests that dosage compensation influences sex-biased gene expression. A limitation of the previous studies, however, was that they focused on endogenous X-linked genes and, thus, could not disentangle the effects of chromosomal position from those of gene-specific regulation. To overcome this limitation, we examined the expression of an exogenous reporter gene inserted at many locations spanning the X chromosome. We observed a negative correlation between the male-to-female expression ratio of the reporter gene and its distance to the nearest DCC binding site in somatic tissues, but not in gonads. A reporter gene’s location relative to a DCC binding site had greater influence on its expression than the local regulatory elements of neighboring endogenous genes, suggesting that intra-chromosomal variation in the strength of dosage compensation is a major determinant of sex-biased gene expression. Average levels of sex-biased expression did not differ between head and brain, but there was greater positional effect variation in the brain, which may explain the observed excess of endogenous sex-biased genes located on the X chromosome in this tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksei Belyi
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Eliza Argyridou
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - John Parsch
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
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