Evolution of gene expression levels in the male reproductive organs of Anopheles mosquitoes

Izquierdo, Abril; Fahrenberger, Martin; Persampieri, Tania; Benedict, Mark Q.; Giles, Tom; Catteruccia, Flaminia; Emes, Richard D.; Dottorini, Tania

Abstract

Modifications in gene expression determine many of the phenotypic differentiations between closely related species. This is particularly evident in reproductive tissues, where evolution of genes is more rapid, facilitating the appearance of distinct reproductive characteristics which may lead to species isolation and phenotypic variation. Large-scale, comparative analyses of transcript expression levels have been limited until recently by lack of inter-species data mining solutions. Here, by combining expression normalisation across lineages, multivariate statistical analysis, evolutionary rate, and protein–protein interaction analysis, we investigate ortholog transcripts in the male accessory glands and testes across five closely related species in the Anopheles gambiae complex. We first demonstrate that the differentiation by transcript expression is consistent with the known Anopheles phylogeny. Then, through clustering, we discover groups of transcripts with tissue-dependent expression patterns conserved across lineages, or lineage-dependent patterns conserved across tissues. The strongest associations with reproductive function, transcriptional regulatory networks, protein–protein subnetworks, and evolutionary rate are found for the groups of transcripts featuring large expression differences in lineage or tissue-conserved patterns.

Citation

Izquierdo, A., Fahrenberger, M., Persampieri, T., Benedict, M. Q., Giles, T., Catteruccia, F., …Dottorini, T. (2019). Evolution of gene expression levels in the male reproductive organs of Anopheles mosquitoes. Life Science Alliance, 2(1), Article e00191. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.201800191

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 21, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 2, 2019
• Publication Date: Feb 27, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 7, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 7, 2019
• Journal: Life Science Alliance
• Print ISSN: 2575-1077
• Electronic ISSN: 2575-1077
• Publisher: Life Science Alliance
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: e00191
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.201800191
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1447804
• Publisher URL: http://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/2/1/e201800191