| 41. |
- Cervantes, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
-
Strong Purifying Selection in Haploid Tissue-Specific Genes of Scots Pine Supports the Masking Theory
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 40:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The masking theory states that genes expressed in a haploid stage will be under more efficient selection. In contrast, selection will be less efficient in genes expressed in a diploid stage, where the fitness effects of recessive deleterious or beneficial mutations can be hidden from selection in heterozygous form. This difference can influence several evolutionary processes such as the maintenance of genetic variation, adaptation rate, and genetic load. Masking theory expectations have been confirmed in single-cell haploid and diploid organisms. However, in multicellular organisms, such as plants, the effects of haploid selection are not clear-cut. In plants, the great majority of studies indicating haploid selection have been carried out using male haploid tissues in angiosperms. Hence, evidence in these systems is confounded with the effects of sexual selection and intraspecific competition. Evidence from other plant groups is scarce, and results show no support for the masking theory. Here, we have used a gymnosperm Scots pine megagametophyte, a maternally derived seed haploid tissue, and four diploid tissues to test the strength of purifying selection on a set of genes with tissue-specific expression. By using targeted resequencing data of those genes, we obtained estimates of genetic diversity, the site frequency spectrum of 0-fold and 4-fold sites, and inferred the distribution of fitness effects of new mutations in haploid and diploid tissue-specific genes. Our results show that purifying selection is stronger for tissue-specific genes expressed in the haploid megagametophyte tissue and that this signal of strong selection is not an artifact driven by high expression levels.
|
|
| 42. |
- Chapman, Joanne R., et al.
(författare)
-
The Evolution of Innate Immune Genes : Purifying and Balancing Selection on beta-Defensins in Waterfowl
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 33:12, s. 3075-3087
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In disease dynamics, high immune gene diversity can confer a selective advantage to hosts in the face of a rapidly evolving and diverse pathogen fauna. This is supported empirically for genes involved in pathogen recognition and signalling. In contrast, effector genes involved in pathogen clearance may be more constrained. beta-Defensins are innate immune effector genes; their main mode of action is via disruption of microbial membranes. Here, five beta-defensin genes were characterized in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and other waterfowl; key reservoir species for many zoonotic diseases. All five genes showed remarkably low diversity at the individual-, population-, and species-level. Furthermore, there was widespread sharing of identical alleles across species divides. Thus, specific beta-defensin alleles were maintained not only spatially but also over long temporal scales, with many amino acid residues being fixed across all species investigated. Purifying selection to maintain individual, highly efficacious alleles was the primary evolutionary driver of these genes in waterfowl. However, we also found evidence for balancing selection acting on the most recently duplicated beta-defensin gene (AvBD3b). For this gene, we found that amino acid replacements were more likely to be radical changes, suggesting that duplication of beta-defensin genes allows exploration of wider functional space. Structural conservation to maintain function appears to be crucial for avian beta-defensin effector molecules, resulting in low tolerance for new allelic variants. This contrasts with other types of innate immune genes, such as receptor and signalling molecules, where balancing selection to maintain allelic diversity has been shown to be a strong evolutionary force.
|
|
| 43. |
- Chen, Jun, et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic Diversity and the Efficacy of Purifying Selection across Plant and Animal Species
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 34:6, s. 1417-1428
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A central question in evolutionary biology is why some species have more genetic diversity than others and a no less important question is why selection efficacy varies among species. Although these questions have started to be tackled in animals, they have not been addressed to the same extent in plants. Here, we estimated nucleotide diversity at synonymous, pi(S), and nonsynonymous sites, pi(N), and a measure of the efficacy of selection, the ratio pi(N)/pi(S), in 34 animal and 28 plant species using full genome data. We then evaluated the relationship of nucleotide diversity and selection efficacy with effective population size, the distribution of fitness effect and life history traits. In animals, our data confirm that longevity and propagule size are the variables that best explain the variation in pi(S) among species. In plants longevity also plays a major role as well as mating system. As predicted by the nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution, the log of pi(N)/pi(S) decreased linearly with the log of pi(S) but the slope was weaker in plants than in animals. This appears to be due to a higher mutation rate in long lived plants, and the difference disappears when pi(S) is rescaled by the mutation rate. Differences in the distribution of fitness effect of new mutations also contributed to variation in pi(N)/pi(S) among species.
|
|
| 44. |
- Cheng, Jian, et al.
(författare)
-
Parallel Evolution of Chromatin Structure Underlying Metabolic Adaptation
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 34:11, s. 2870-2878
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parallel evolution occurs when a similar trait emerges in independent evolutionary lineages. Although changes in protein coding and gene transcription have been investigated as underlying mechanisms for parallel evolution, parallel changes in chromatin structure have never been reported. Here, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and a distantly related yeast species, Dekkera bruxellensis, are investigated because both species have independently evolved the capacity of aerobic fermentation. By profiling and comparing genome sequences, transcriptomic landscapes, and chromatin structures, we revealed that parallel changes in nucleosome occupancy in the promoter regions of mitochondria-localized genes led to concerted suppression of mitochondrial functions by glucose, which can explain the metabolic convergence in these two independent yeast species. Further investigation indicated that similar mutational processes in the promoter regions of these genes in the two independent evolutionary lineages underlay the parallel changes in chromatin structure. Our results indicate that, despite several hundred million years of separation, parallel changes in chromatin structure, can be an important adaptation mechanism for different organisms. Due to the important role of chromatin structure changes in regulating gene expression and organism phenotypes, the novel mechanism revealed in this study could be a general phenomenon contributing to parallel adaptation in nature.
|
|
| 45. |
- Cheng, R. R., et al.
(författare)
-
Connecting the Sequence-Space of Bacterial Signaling Proteins to Phenotypes Using Coevolutionary Landscapes
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 33:12, s. 3054-3064
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two-component signaling (TCS) is the primary means by which bacteria sense and respond to the environment. TCS involves two partner proteins working in tandem, which interact to perform cellular functions whereas limiting interactions with non-partners (i.e., cross-talk). We construct a Potts model for TCS that can quantitatively predict how mutating amino acid identities affect the interaction between TCS partners and non-partners. The parameters of this model are inferred directly from protein sequence data. This approach drastically reduces the computational complexity of exploring the sequence-space of TCS proteins. As a stringent test, we compare its predictions to a recent comprehensive mutational study, which characterized the functionality of 20 4 mutational variants of the PhoQ kinase in Escherichia coli. We find that our best predictions accurately reproduce the amino acid combinations found in experiment, which enable functional signaling with its partner PhoP. These predictions demonstrate the evolutionary pressure to preserve the interaction between TCS partners as well as prevent unwanted cross-talk. Further, we calculate the mutational change in the binding affinity between PhoQ and PhoP, providing an estimate to the amount of destabilization needed to disrupt TCS.
|
|
| 46. |
- Choquet, Marvin, et al.
(författare)
-
Comparative Population Transcriptomics Provide New Insight into the Evolutionary History and Adaptive Potential of World Ocean Krill
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 40:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic variation is instrumental for adaptation to changing environments but it is unclear how it is structured and contributes to adaptation in pelagic species lacking clear barriers to gene flow. Here, we applied comparative genomics to extensive transcriptome datasets from 20 krill species collected across the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern Oceans. We compared genetic variation both within and between species to elucidate their evolutionary history and genomic bases of adaptation. We resolved phylogenetic interrelationships and uncovered genomic evidence to elevate the cryptic Euphausia similis var. armata into species. Levels of genetic variation and rates of adaptive protein evolution vary widely. Species endemic to the cold Southern Ocean, such as the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba, showed less genetic variation and lower evolutionary rates than other species. This could suggest a low adaptive potential to rapid climate change. We uncovered hundreds of candidate genes with signatures of adaptive evolution among Antarctic Euphausia but did not observe strong evidence of adaptive convergence with the predominantly Arctic Thysanoessa. We instead identified candidates for cold-adaptation that have also been detected in Antarctic fish, including genes that govern thermal reception such as TrpA1. Our results suggest parallel genetic responses to similar selection pressures across Antarctic taxa and provide new insights into the adaptive potential of important zooplankton already affected by climate change.
|
|
| 47. |
- Christmas, Matthew, et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic Barriers to Historical Gene Flow between Cryptic Species of Alpine Bumblebees Revealed by Comparative Population Genomics
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 38:8, s. 3126-3143
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evidence is accumulating that gene flow commonly occurs between recently diverged species, despite the existence of barriers to gene flow in their genomes. However, we still know little about what regions of the genome become barriers to gene flow and how such barriers form. Here, we compare genetic differentiation across the genomes of bumblebee species living in sympatry and allopatry to reveal the potential impact of gene flow during species divergence and uncover genetic barrier loci. We first compared the genomes of the alpine bumblebee Bombus sylvicola and a previously unidentified sister species living in sympatry in the Rocky Mountains, revealing prominent islands of elevated genetic divergence in the genome that colocalize with centromeres and regions of low recombination. This same pattern is observed between the genomes of another pair of closely related species living in allopatry (B. bifarius and B. vancouverensis). Strikingly however, the genomic islands exhibit significantly elevated absolute divergence (d(XY)) in the sympatric, but not the allopatric, comparison indicating that they contain loci that have acted as barriers to historical gene flow in sympatry. Our results suggest that intrinsic barriers to gene flow between species may often accumulate in regions of low recombination and near centromeres through processes such as genetic hitchhiking, and that divergence in these regions is accentuated in the presence of gene flow.
|
|
| 48. |
- Christmas, Matthew, et al.
(författare)
-
Social Parasitism in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Is Not Controlled by a Single SNP
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 36:8, s. 1764-1767
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is a subspecies of the honeybee, in which workers commonly lay diploid unfertilized eggs via a process known as thelytoky. A recent study aimed to map the genetic basis of this trait in the progeny of a single capensis queen where workers laid either diploid (thelytokous) or haploid (arrhenotokous) eggs. A nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in a gene of unknown function was reported to be strongly associated with thelytoky in this colony. Here, we analyze genome sequences from a global sample of A. mellifera and identify populations where the proposed thelytoky allele at this SNP is common but thelytoky is absent. We also analyze genome sequences of three capensis queens produced by thelytoky and find that, contrary to predictions, they do not carry the proposed thelytoky allele. The proposed SNP is therefore neither sufficient nor required to produce thelytoky in A. mellifera.
|
|
| 49. |
- Cruz, F., et al.
(författare)
-
The legacy of domestication : Accumulation of deleterious mutations in the dog genome
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 25:11, s. 2331-2336
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dogs exhibit more phenotypic variation than any other mammal and are affected by a wide variety of genetic diseases. However, the origin and genetic basis of this variation is still poorly understood. We examined the effect of domestication on the dog genome by comparison with its wild ancestor, the gray wolf. We compared variation in dog and wolf genes using whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. The d(N)/d(S) ratio (omega) was around 50% greater for SNPs found in dogs than in wolves, indicating that a higher proportion of nonsynonymous alleles segregate in dogs compared with nonfunctional genetic variation. We suggest that the majority of these alleles are slightly deleterious and that two main factors may have contributed to their increase. The first is a relaxation of selective constraint due to a population bottleneck and altered breeding patterns accompanying domestication. The second is a reduction of effective population size at loci linked to those under positive selection due to Hill-Robertson interference. An increase in slightly deleterious genetic variation could contribute to the prevalence of disease in modern dog breeds.
|
|
| 50. |
- Dalen, Love, et al.
(författare)
-
Partial Genetic Turnover in Neandertals : Continuity in the East and Population Replacement in the West
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 29:8, s. 1893-1897
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Remarkably little is known about the population-level processes leading up to the extinction of the neandertal. To examine this, we use mitochondrial DNA sequences from 13 neandertal individuals, including a novel sequence from northern Spain, to examine neandertal demographic history. Our analyses indicate that recent western European neandertals (< 48 kyr) constitute a tightly defined group with low mitochondrial genetic variation in comparison with both eastern and older (> 48 kyr) European neandertals. Using control region sequences, Bayesian demographic simulations provide higher support for a model of population fragmentation followed by separate demographic trajectories in subpopulations over a null model of a single stable population. The most parsimonious explanation for these results is that of a population turnover in western Europe during early Marine Isotope Stage 3, predating the arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region.
|
|
