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Pegoraro, M, Noreen, S, Bhutani, S, Tsolou, A, Schmid, R, Kyriacou, CP and Tauber, E (2014) Molecular Evolution of a Pervasive Natural Amino-Acid Substitution in Drosophila cryptochrome. PLoS One, 9 (1). ISSN 1932-6203
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Molecular evolution of a pervasive natural amino-acid substitution in Drosophila cryptochrome.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Genetic variations in circadian clock genes may serve as molecular adaptations, allowing populations to adapt to local environments. Here, we carried out a survey of genetic variation in Drosophila cryptochrome (cry), the fly’s dedicated circadian photoreceptor. An initial screen of 10 European cry alleles revealed substantial variation, including seven non-synonymous changes. The SNP frequency spectra and the excessive linkage disequilibrium in this locus suggested that this variation is maintained by natural selection. We focused on a non-conservative SNP involving a leucine - histidine replacement (L232H) and found that this polymorphism is common, with both alleles at intermediate frequencies across 27 populations surveyed in Europe, irrespective of latitude. Remarkably, we were able to reproduce this natural observation in the laboratory using replicate population cages where the minor allele frequency was initially set to 10%. Within 20 generations, the two allelic variants converged to approximately equal frequencies. Further experiments using congenic strains, showed that this SNP has a phenotypic impact, with variants showing significantly different eclosion profiles. At the long term, these phase differences in eclosion may contribute to genetic differentiation among individuals, and shape the evolution of wild populations.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Science & Technology; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Science & Technology - Other Topics; CLOCK GENE; CIRCADIAN-RHYTHMS; DNA POLYMORPHISM; MELANOGASTER; SELECTION; PROTEIN; LIGHT; PHOTORECEPTOR; MUTATION; PERIOD |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology |
| Divisions: | Biological & Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19) |
| Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
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| Date Deposited: | 02 Feb 2021 10:25 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2021 06:02 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0086483 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14374 |
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