Dynamics of transcriptome evolution in the model eukaryote Neurospora

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Genomics
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Transcriptome changes are crucial for species differentiation, but drivers of transcriptome evolution require further genome-wide investigation.
• The model organism Neurospora offers a tractable system for studying evolutionary transcriptome dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the evolution of gene expression in Neurospora crassa and Neurospora tetrasperma.
• To determine the influence of genome evolution, tissue type, and sexual identity on transcriptome evolution.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of inter- and intraspecies gene expression divergence.
• Examination of correlations between gene expression and protein sequence divergence.
• Assessment of tissue-specific and mating-type-specific expression patterns.

Main Results:

• Rapid expression divergence observed in sexual/female (SF) tissues compared to vegetative/male (VM) tissues.
• Strong correlation between interspecies gene expression and protein sequence divergence in SF tissues, but not VM tissues.
• Sexual identity (mating types mat A and mat a) influences interspecies expression divergence in a tissue-dependent manner.

Conclusions:

• Transcriptome evolution in Neurospora is linked to genome evolution, tissue type, and sexual identity.
• Findings support the theory that expression evolution differs between multicellular and unicellular eukaryotes.
• Rapid interspecies transcriptome evolution may be driving the development of distinct male and female phenotypes (sexual dimorphism) in Neurospora.