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The nature of genetic variation in sex and reproduction-related genes among sibling species of the Drosophila melanogaster complex.

Much is known about the biology of Drosophila melanogaster. As a model organism, a comprehensive understanding of its development, physiology and reproduction has been acquired. As a result, a broad variety of transferable genetic tools and information has allowed sibling species of the D. melanogaster complex to emerge as an important speciation model system. By comparing D. melanogaster with its close relative, Drosophila simulans, as well as its other sibling species, we are beginning to understand the nature of genetic changes during the early stages of speciation. In general, we find that genes and traits involved in sex and reproduction are more variable. A large assortment of genes and traits that are involved in various aspects of mating and fertility reveal diagnostic differences between these sibling species. Sex and reproduction-related (SRR) genes are, on average, more diverged than genes with no apparent reproductive function. Furthermore, SRR genes appear more permissive at opting in novel function. These results follow a general trend observed in other taxa and demonstrate the preferential involvement of SRR genes in reproductive isolation and species formation.

Animals↗

A genome-wide survey of reproductive barriers in an intraspecific hybrid.

Genetic study of the reproductive barriers between related species plays an essential role in understanding the process of speciation. We developed a new method for mapping all possible factors causing deviations from expected Mendelian segregation ratios in F(2) progeny, which substantially contribute to reproductive isolation. A multiresponse nonlinear regression analysis of the allele frequencies of the markers covering an entire genome in the F(2) population was performed to estimate the map position and intensity of the reproductive barriers on each chromosome. In F(2) plants from a cross between a Japonica variety of rice, Nipponbare, and an Indica variety, Kasalath, the deviations of allele frequencies were well explained by 33 reproductive barriers. Of these, 15 reproductive barriers affected the allele transmission rate through the gametophyte and in 9 of these 15 cases, an Indica allele was transmitted at a higher frequency than a Japonica allele. The other 18 reproductive barriers altered the viability of the zygote via its genotype. Two zygotic reproductive barriers showed overdominance and 5 showed underdominance. The most pronounced reproductive barrier, mapped at 62.3 +/- 0.4 cM on chromosome 3, transmitted the Indica allele by 94% through the male gametophyte. The accuracy of the barrier position in the regression analysis was confirmed by progeny analysis. The regression analysis proved to be a powerful tool for detecting and characterizing every reproductive barrier, irrespective of whether it acted on the male or female gametophyte or the zygote.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Developmental isolation and subsequent adult behavior of Drosophila paulistorum. III. Alternative rearing.

We have been utilizing members of the Drosophila paulistorum complex of semispecies to study the development of adult discriminatory behavior. In this study, three rearing methods were used to examine the effects of previous exposure to heterosemispecifics on reproductive isolation among the various semispecies. Experimental flies were exposed to heterosemispecifics by one of three methods: exposure to airborne heterosemispecific stimuli from egg through sexual maturity, physical contact with heterosemispecifics only during the postimaginal period, and mixed culturing (total physical contact with heterosemispecific individuals during each of five preimaginal stages). Effects of the first treatment varied with semispecies. The second treatment had no significant effect on mating behavior. The third treatment of mixed culturing reinforced sexual isolation.

Animals↗

Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans rescue strains produce fit offspring, despite divergent centromere-specific histone alleles.

The interaction between rapidly evolving centromere sequences and conserved kinetochore machinery appears to be mediated by centromere-binding proteins. A recent theory proposes that the independent evolution of centromere-binding proteins in isolated populations may be a universal cause of speciation among eukaryotes. In Drosophila the centromere-specific histone, Cid (centromere identifier), shows extensive sequence divergence between D. melanogaster and the D. simulans clade, indicating that centromere machinery incompatibilities may indeed be involved in reproductive isolation and speciation. However, it is presently unclear whether the adaptive evolution of Cid was a cause of the divergence between these species, or merely a product of postspeciation adaptation in the separate lineages. Furthermore, the extent to which divergent centromere identifier proteins provide a barrier to reproduction remains unknown. Interestingly, a small number of rescue lines from both D. melanogaster and D. simulans can restore hybrid fitness. Through comparisons of cid sequence between nonrescue and rescue strains, we show that cid is not involved in restoring hybrid viability or female fertility. Further, we demonstrate that divergent cid alleles are not sufficient to cause inviability or female sterility in hybrid crosses. Our data do not dispute the rapid divergence of cid or the coevolution of centromeric components in Drosophila; however, they do suggest that cid underwent adaptive evolution after D. melanogaster and D. simulans diverged and, consequently, is not a speciation gene.

Animals↗

Mate choice theory and the mode of selection in sexual populations.

Indirect new data imply that mate and/or gamete choice are major selective forces driving genetic change in sexual populations. The system dictates nonrandom mating, an evolutionary process requiring both revised genetic theory and new data on heritability of characters underlying Darwinian fitness. Successfully reproducing individuals represent rare selections from among vigorous, competing survivors of preadult natural selection. Nonrandom mating has correlated demographic effects: reduced effective population size, inbreeding, low gene flow, and emphasis on deme structure. Characters involved in choice behavior at reproduction appear based on quantitative trait loci. This variability serves selection for fitness within the population, having only an incidental relationship to the origin of genetically based reproductive isolation between populations. The claim that extensive hybridization experiments with Drosophila indicate that selection favors a gradual progression of "isolating mechanisms" is flawed, because intra-group random mating is assumed. Over deep time, local sexual populations are strong, independent genetic systems that use rich fields of variable polygenic components of fitness. The sexual reproduction system thus particularizes, in small subspecific populations, the genetic basis of the grand adaptive sweep of selective evolutionary change, much as Darwin proposed.

Animals↗

A biogeographic genetic approach for testing the role of reinforcement: the case of Drosophila pseudoobscura and D. persimilis.

The role of reinforcement in speciation can be explained by two distinct models. In model I, two diverged populations hybridize and produce fertile hybrids that successfully backcross (hybridization with gene flow). In model II, two populations hybridize but succeeding backcrosses are unproductive (hybridization without gene flow). Using Drosophila persimilis and D. pseudoobscura, we have tested model I by comparing the extent of heterospecific introgression in sympatric versus allopatric populations. We show that certain expectations of this particular model of reinforcement, which is based on hybridization and gene flow between divergent populations after secondary contact, are not realized in these two species. The evidence consists of the similarity of genetic distances as well as proportions of unique/rare alleles between sympatric and allopatric heterospecific populations and a negative correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance between heterospecific populations, which suggests ecological differentiation. This approach in quantifying differential gene flow has important consequences to studies that compare sympatric and allopatric isolation using genetic distance. Following model I, one would expect a pattern of higher prezygotic isolation in sympatric species compared to allopatric species of the same genetic distance simply as a result of an underestimation of genetic distance due to introgression between sympatric populations. We suggest more parsimonious explanations such as reinforcement without genetic exchange (model II) and ecological differentiation, which require high levels of preexisting reproductive isolation between populations.

Animals↗

Differentiation of U.S. and European isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus by monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to two U.S. isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus were prepared. Two MAbs specifically recognized a conserved epitope on the putative 15-kDa nucleocapsid protein of U.S. and European isolates of PRRS virus. Four other MAbs recognized epitopes on the 15-kDa protein of U.S. but not European isolates of PRRS virus. Collectively, this indicates that PRRS viruses contain both conserved and divergent epitopes on the 15-kDa viral protein.

Animals↗

Sexual isolation between two sibling species with overlapping ranges: Drosophila santomea and Drosophila yakuba.

Drosophila yakuba is widespread in Africa, whereas D. santomea, its newly discovered sister species, is endemic to the volcanic island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. Drosophila santomea probably formed after colonization of the island by a D. yakuba-like ancestor. The species presently have overlapping ranges on the mountain Pico do São Tomé, with some hybridization occurring in this region. Sexual isolation between the species is uniformly high regardless of the source of the populations, and, as in many pairs of Drosophila species, is asymmetrical, so that hybridizations occur much more readily in one direction than the other. Despite the fact that these species meet many of the conditions required for the evolution of reinforcement (the elevation of sexual isolation by natural selection to avoid maladaptive interspecific hybridization), there is no evidence that sexual isolation between the species is highest in the zone of overlap. Sexual isolation is due to evolutionary changes in both female preference for heterospecific males and in the vigor with which males court heterospecific females. Heterospecific matings are also slower to take place than are homospecific matings, constituting another possible form of reproductive isolation. Genetic studies show that, when tested with females of either species, male hybrids having a D. santomea X chromosome mate much less frequently with females of either species than do males having a D. yakuba X chromosome, suggesting that the interaction between the D. santomea X chromosome and the D. yakuba genome causes behavioral sterility. Hybrid F1 females mate readily with males of either species, so that sexual isolation in this sex is completely recessive, a phenomenon seen in other Drosophila species. There has also been significant evolutionary change in the duration of copulation between these species; this difference involves genetic changes in both sexes, with at least two genes responsible in males and at least one in females.

Animals↗

Trichinella murrelli n. sp: etiological agent of sylvatic trichinellosis in temperate areas of North America.

Trichinella T5, collected from sylvatic carnivores in North America, was identified previously as a different phenotype of Trichinella, with an uncertain taxonomic level due to the availability of only 2 isolates. Cross-breeding experiments carried out with single female and male larvae of 2 strains of Trichinella T5, with single female and male larvae of 2 strains of Trichinella spiralis, Trichinella nativa, Trichinella britovi, Trichinella pseudospiralis, Trichinella nelsoni, and Trichinella T6, showed a reproductive isolation of Trichinella T5. Viable offspring were obtained only when a female of Trichinella T5 was crossed with a male of T. britovi, but not vice versa. Furthermore, the analysis of biological, biochemical, and molecular data of 32 isolates collected from sylvatic animals in the Nearctic region and identified as Trichinella T5 permitted its reassessment at the species level. Trichinella murrelli n. sp. is characterized by the following: distribution in temperate areas of the Nearctic region; newborn larvae production in vitro of 29-36/72 hr; nurse cell development time between 24 and 70 days postinfection; reproductive capacity index in Swiss mice 1.2-9.5, in wild mice 29.5-159.8, in rats 0.7-2.4, and in pigs 0.03-0.0004; no resistance to freezing; ribosomal DNA fragments of 7.2 kb and/or 11.4 kb, plus 2.2 kb and 1.8 kb present after Dra I digested DNA when probed with total T. spiralis RNA; a specific amplicon of 179 bp after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with the primer set SB147G; a specific fragment of 1,600 bp after PCR amplification with the primer set Ts43CA and Hhb I digestion; long incubation period; and moderate to severe pathogenicity for humans. The new species is most similar to T. britovi, though it differs from T. britovi in the pattern of 2 allozymes, in the patterns of major ribosomal DNA and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism fragments, and in geographical distribution.

Animals↗

Patterns of mortality in the the Old Order Amish. I. Background and major causes of death.

The major causes of death were studied in the Old Order Amish people in three settlements in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to determine if lifestyle and genetic isolation altered their mortality risk compared to neighboring non-Amish. The Amish are a conservative religious group who live in farm settlements, use horses for work and travel, exercise vigorously, and avoid cigarettes and alcohol. They are reproductively isolated and highly inbred. Death certificates and Amish censuses were used to determine mortality risks, which were summarized using age-adjusted mortality ratio (MRs). Amish mortality patterns were not systematically higher or lower than those of the non-Amish, but differed by age, sex, and cause. Amish males had slightly higher all-cause MRs as children and significantly lower MRs over the age of 40, due primarily to lower rates of cancer (MR = 0.44, age 40-69), and cardiovascular diseases (MR = 0.65, age 40-69). Amish females MRs for all causes of death were lower from age 10-39, not different from 40-69, and higher over age 69. MRs were not significantly different for all cancer sites combined in Amish women and they had higher cardiovascular mortality ratio aged 70 and over (MR =1.34). Other major causes of death were also examined. Because the Amish and other farming groups have similar mortality patterns, it is suggested that lifestyle may be the primary determinant of the overall mortality patterns in the Amish.

Adolescent↗

Time, love and species.

Physiological and behavioral phenomena of many animals are restricted to certain times of the day. Many organisms show daily rhythms in their mating. The daily fluctuation in mating activity of a few insects is controlled by an endogenous clock. The fruitfly, Drosophila, is the most suitable material to characterize the genetic basis of circadian rhythms of mating because some mutants with defective core oscillator mechanism, feedback loops, have been isolated. D. melanogaster wild-type display a robust circadian rhythm in the mating activity, and the rhythms are abolished in period or timeless null mutant flies (per(01) and tim(01)), the rhythms are generated by females but not males. Disconnected (disco) mutants which have a severe defect in the optic lobe and are missing lateral neurons show arrhythmicity in mating activities. Thus, the lateral neurons seem to be essential for the circadian rhythm in mating activity of Drosophila. Furthermore, an anti-phasic relation in circadian rhythms of the mating activity was detected between D. melanogaster and their sibling species D. simulans. The Queensland fruit flies or wild gypsy moth also show species-specific mating rhythm, suggesting that species-specific circadian rhythms in mating activity of insect appear to cause a reproductive isolation.

Animals↗

Antigenic comparison of Canadian and US isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus using monoclonal antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein.

Fifteen Canadian field isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus from Quebec and Ontario were compared with 5 US PRRS virus (PRRSV) isolates and with the European Lelystad isolate using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) SDOW17, EP147, and VO17 directed to the 15-kDa nucleocapsid protein of PRRSV. All Canadian and US isolates tested by indirect immunofluorescence were recognized by the 3 MAbs, and individual titers of MAbs towards Canadian and US PRRSV isolates were similar as well. In contrast, the Lelystad virus isolate reacted only with the SDOW17 MAb and showed no reactivity with either EP147 or VO17. The reactivity pattern with these MAbs suggests that the Canadian isolates of PRRSV tested are antigenically similar to US isolates of PRRSV, and that these North American isolates share highly conserved epitopes on the 15-kDa nucleocapsid protein that clearly differentiate them from the European Lelystad virus isolate.

Animals↗

Genetics of a pheromonal difference affecting sexual isolation between Drosophila mauritiana and D. sechellia.

Females of the sibling species Drosophila sechellia and D. mauritiana differ in their cuticular hydrocarbons: the predominant compound in D. sechellia is 7,11-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), while that in D. mauritiana is 7-tricosene (7-T). We investigate the genetic basis of this difference and its involvement in reproductive isolation between the species. Behavioral studies involving hydrocarbon transfer suggest that these compounds play a large role in the sexual isolation between D. mauritiana males and D. sechellia females, while sexual isolation in the reciprocal hybridization results more from differences in female behavior than hydrocarbons. This interspecific difference in hydrocarbon profile is due to evolutionary change at a minimum of six loci, all on the third chromosome. The localization of evolutionary change to the third chromosome has been seen in very other genetic analysis of female hydrocarbon differences in the D. melanogaster group. We suggest that the high 7,11-HD phenotype seen in two species evolved twice independently from ancestors having the high 7-T phenotype and the recurrent third-chromosome effects are evolutionary convergences that may be due to a concentration of "hydrocarbon genes" on that chromosome.

Alkadienes↗

Genealogical footprints of speciation processes in wild tomatoes: demography and evidence for historical gene flow.

Multilocus studies assessing patterns of nucleotide polymorphism within and among closely related species provide access to genealogical information bearing on demographic and geographic aspects of their speciation history. However, the technical difficulties in obtaining sufficient sequence data have severely limited this approach thus far, especially in outbred plant taxa. We employ the analytical framework of divergence population genetics in testing the isolation model of speciation in three self-incompatible species of wild tomatoes (clade Lycopersicon), in particular the assumption of divergence without gene flow. Based on DNA sequence data for 13 nuclear loci, average levels of silent polymorphism vary more than three-fold among species. We estimate a large effective population size for the ancestral species, quite similar to that of the highly polymorphic L. peruvianum. The other two species, however, exhibit concordant signatures of population-size reduction. These demographic inferences are biologically plausible and consistent with results obtained from standard neutrality tests. While the isolation model cannot be rejected by goodness-of-fit criteria, patterns of intragenic linkage disequilibrium in L. peruvianum are indicative of historical introgression at least in some regions of the genome. Considered jointly with the geographic pattern of postzygotic reproductive isolation, our results suggest that speciation occurred under residual gene flow, implying natural selection as one of the evolutionary forces driving the diversification of tomato lineages.

Base Sequence↗

Phylogeographic analysis of the brooding brittle star Amphipholis squamata (Echinodermata) along the coast of New Zealand reveals high cryptic genetic variation and cryptic dispersal potential.

Direct development in benthic marine invertebrates is usually associated with narrow geographical range, low rates of colonization, and low levels of gene flow. Paradoxically, the small brittle star Amphipholis squamata broods its larvae to a crawl-away juvenile stage, yet has a cosmopolitan distribution. Using sequence and restriction-fragment-length-polymorphisms (RFLP) analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from 16 coastal populations throughout New Zealand, we tested whether the species is indeed a poor disperser, as may be expected from its brooding habit. We predicted that local and regional populations would be genetically structured according to isolation by distance. We also suspected that this ubiquitous "species" is composed of a variety of cryptic taxa in different geographic areas, as has been discovered in an increasing number of marine invertebrates. We found evidence of four genetically divergent and reproductively isolated lineages that can exist in syntopy. Lineages vary in abundance, haplotype diversity, and geographic distribution. The partitioning of genetic variation within the most common lineage, as well as the geographic distribution of the four lineages, suggest a north/south split. This pattern is consistent with known New Zealand marine biogeographic zones and appears to be linked to the regime of oceanic circulation, which is characterized by subtropical, southward-moving water masses in the north, and sub-Antarctic, northward-moving water in the south. We conclude that the dispersal ability of A. squamata is regionally restricted but with sporadic long-distance dispersal, which serves to increase local genetic variation. Our results support the idea that dispersal occurs through passive transport by drifting or rafting on macroalgae, which A. squamata commonly inhabits, and emphasize that poor dispersal ability is not necessarily a corollary of direct development.

Analysis of Variance↗

Assortative fertilization and selection at larval stage in the mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis.

Assortative mating (prezygotic isolation) and reduced hybrid fitness (postzygotic isolation) are typically invoked to explain the stability of hybrid zones. In the tension zone model, these factors work in opposition to migration, which promotes genetic homogeneity. Many marine animals migrate over long distances through a planktonic larval stage. Therefore, strong reproductive isolation is needed to maintain stable marine hybrid zones. However, surprisingly little is known about mating preferences and hybrid fitness in marine organisms. Smooth-shelled mussels (Mytilus spp.) form a well-known species complex, with hybridization over extensive areas such as the contact zone of M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis around European Atlantic coasts. This paper reports direct experimental evidence of assortative fertilization, hybrid larval inviability, and early heterosis for growth rate in M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. Four crosses between pure M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis were analyzed with a new polymerase-chain-reaction-based diagnostic marker. Gamete competition between taxa was allowed in two out of the four crosses. Genotype frequencies observed at an early stage (36 h after fertilization) unambiguously revealed assortative fertilization when gamete competition was allowed. A significant reduction in hybrid viability was subsequently observed during the larval stage. At the same stage an antagonistic effect, heterosis, was observed on growth rate. However, even if heterosis is observed in the F1, it is expected to vanish in subsequent hybrid generations. Although specialization for different habitats and asynchronous spawning have been mentioned as factors contributing to the maintenance of the blue mussel hybrid zone in Europe, we argue that assortative fertilization and reduced hybrid fitness are important factors that also contribute to the stabilization of this zone. These results emphasize that multiple factors may act concomitantly in a barrier to gene flow, especially in complex life cycles. Furthermore, they show that assortative mating through gamete preference, as already demonstrated for sea urchins, may play a role in speciation processes taking place in the sea.

Animals↗

Sex pheromones of five olethreutine species (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) associated with the seedlings and fruits of mangrove plants in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan: identification and field evaluation.

The sex pheromones of three Cryptophlebia, one Centroxena, and one Eucosma species (Lepidoptera: Olethreutinae) inhabiting mangroves in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, were studied with coupled gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection, and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The larvae of each Cryptophlebia species are specifically associated with viviparous seedlings from one of three mangrove Rhizophoraceae plants. Whereas three EAG-active alcohol components, (Z)-8-dodecen-1-ol, (E)-8-dodecen1-ol, and dodecan-1-ol, in a ratio of 100:12:4, were identified from the pheromone gland extract of female of C. horii (host: Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), two other sibling species produced the corresponding acetates, i.e., (Z)-8-dodecenyl acetate, (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate, and dodecyl acetate, in a 100:2:3 ratio from Cryptophlebia palustris (host: Rhizophora stylosa in Iriomote-jima Island) and in a 100:7:13 ratio from C. amamiana (host: Kandelia candel in Amami-oshima Island). The double bond positions of the monounsaturated components were confirmed by GC-MS analyses of their adducts with dimethyl disulfide. On the other hand, the larvae of Centroxena sp. feed on fruits of Sonneratia alba, another mangrove plant in the Sonneratiaceae, and the extract of the female pheromone glands contained (8E,10E)-dodecadienyl acetate and dodecyl acetate in a ratio of 100:5. The double bond position of the diunsaturated compound was confirmed by GC-MS analysis of its adduct with 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione. (E)-9-Dodecenyl acetate w sively identified in the pheromone gland extract of Eucosma coniogramma females reared from seedlings of B. gymnorrhiza. Although the roles of minor components have not been revealed by field tests, synthetic lures baited with the main pheromone component of each species successfully attracted the target males, confirming that the sex pheromone is one of the most important factors for their reproductive isolation.

Animals↗

Genetic differentiation in Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae): polymorphism, host races or sibling species?

Based on allozyme electrophoresis at the Pgm locus and nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS2) sequences, we studied the genetic variation of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch collected on rose bay, Nerium oleander L. (Apocynaceae), from several localities around the Mediterranean basin. In addition, we compared these results with those of Navajas et al. (1998) and Tsagkarakou (1997) who collected from several other host plants from the Mediterranean. In the western part of this area (Spain, France, Tunisia), we found the individuals collected from rose bay to be clearly genetically differentiated from other samples. No evidence of such host-associated differentiation was detected in the eastern Mediterranean (Italy and Greece). The genetic differentiation of mites collected on rose bay was investigated further by studying the reproductive incompatibilities between populations in Greece and in France and a laboratory strain reared on bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, in France. Reciprocal crosses performed between these strains revealed variable levels of incompatibility, spanning from partial to complete reproductive isolation. In all cases incompatibility was asymmetric. We designed a test based on double-mating to establish the fertilization status of females in fully incompatible crosses. These crosses showed that the females had been inseminated, which suggests that the barrier to reproduction is not of a prezygotic behavioral nature. The data raises the question of the relative role of ecological factors (host plant) and geographical distance, in the ongoing differentiation process potentially leading to speciation.

Alleles↗