Evolution of Drosophila genes with sex-biased expression

• Applicant: Professor Dr. John Parsch
• Subject Area: Evolution, Anthropology
• Term: from 2007 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 44172277

A common pattern that has emerged from genomic studies of Drosophila and other taxa is that male-biased genes (i.e., genes expressed predominantly or exclusively in males) evolve rapidly in comparison to female- and nonsex-biased genes. This pattern is thought to be a result of increased adaptive evolution in malebiased genes due to positive (or sexual) selection. However, it could also be explained by relaxed selective constraint. To distinguish between these possibilities and identify genes that have undergone recent adaptive evolution, we propose several population genetic and functional genomic analyses, including: (1) comparing rates of nonsynonymous/synonymous polymorphism and divergence in sex-biased genes, (2) comparing evolutionary patterns of X-linked vs. autosomal sex-biased genes, (3) performing microarray experiments to identify sex-biased genes in Drosophila species other than the well-characterized D. melanogaster, (4) functional analysis of putative adaptively-evolving male-biased genes, and (5) population genetic analysis of sex-biased genes in the highly-subdivided species, D. ananassae.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. John F. Baines