Genetic Changes to a Transcriptional Silencer Element Confers Phenotypic Diversity within and between Drosophila Species

Johnson, WC and Ordway, AJ and Watada, M and Pruitt, JN and Williams, TM and Rebeiz, M (2015) Genetic Changes to a Transcriptional Silencer Element Confers Phenotypic Diversity within and between Drosophila Species. PLoS Genetics, 11 (6). ISSN 1553-7390

Preview	PDF Published Version Available under License : See the attached license file. Download (10MB)
	Plain Text (licence) Available under License : See the attached license file. Download (1kB)

Abstract

The modification of transcriptional regulation has become increasingly appreciated as a major contributor to morphological evolution. However, the role of negative-acting control elements (e.g. silencers) in generating morphological diversity has been generally overlooked relative to positive-acting “enhancer” elements. The highly variable body coloration patterns among Drosophilid insects represents a powerful model system in which the molecular alterations that underlie phenotypic diversity can be defined. In a survey of pigment phenotypes among geographically disparate Japanese populations of Drosophila auraria, we discovered a remarkable degree of variation in male-specific abdominal coloration. In testing the expression patterns of the major pigment-producing enzymes, we found that phenotypes uniquely correlated with differences in the expression of ebony, a gene required for yellow-colored cuticle. Assays of ebony’s transcriptional control region indicated that a lightly pigmented strain harbored cis-regulatory mutations that caused correlated changes in its expression. Through a series of chimeric reporter constructs between light and dark strain alleles, we localized function-altering mutations to a conserved silencer that mediates a male-specific pattern of ebony repression. This suggests that the light allele was derived through the loss of this silencer’s activity. Furthermore, examination of the ebony gene of D. serrata, a close relative of D. auraria which secondarily lost male-specific pigmentation revealed the parallel loss of this silencer element. These results demonstrate how loss-of-function mutations in a silencer element resulted in increased gene expression. We propose that the mutational inactivation of silencer elements may represent a favored path to evolve gene expression, impacting morphological traits.

---

Share

Citation/Export:	Select format... Citation - Text Citation - HTML Endnote BibTex Dublin Core OpenURL MARC (ISO 2709) METS MODS EP3 XML Reference Manager Refer
Social Networking:	Share |

---

Details

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
Creators/Authors:	Creators Email Pitt Username ORCID Johnson, WC Ordway, AJ Watada, M Pruitt, JN Williams, TM Rebeiz, M rebeiz@pitt.edu REBEIZ 0000-0001-5731-5570
Contributors:	Contribution Contributors Name Email Pitt Username ORCID Editor Desplan, Claude UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
Date:	1 July 2015
Date Type:	Publication
Access Restriction:	No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Journal or Publication Title:	PLoS Genetics
Volume:	11
Number:	6
DOI or Unique Handle:	10.1371/journal.pgen.1005279
Institution:	University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs:	Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Biological Sciences
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1553-7390
Date Deposited:	23 Aug 2016 13:40
Last Modified:	07 Dec 2021 14:55
URI:	http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28522

---

Metrics

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Altmetric.com

---

Actions (login required)

View Item