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Genes Involved in Drosophila melanogaster Ovarian Function Are Highly Conserved Throughout Evolution
Sebastien Elis1, Alice Desmarchais1, Emilie Cardona2
1UMR PRC, CNRS, IFCE, INRA, Université de Tours, Nouzilly, France.
Genome Biology and Evolution
|July 31, 2018
Summary
Ovarian genes show significantly higher evolutionary conservation between fruit flies and mammals than other genes. This study identifies novel genes potentially crucial for mammalian oogenesis using an evolutionary approach.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- Reproductive biology
Background:
- Gene conservation studies often focus on broad genomic comparisons.
- Ovarian gene function and conservation across species, particularly between invertebrates and vertebrates, require detailed investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically analyze the evolutionary conservation of fruit fly (Drosophila) ovarian reproduction genes in vertebrates.
- To identify novel genes potentially involved in mammalian oogenesis through comparative genomics.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomic analysis of 971 Drosophila ovarian reproduction genes against orthologs in Ciona, zebrafish, coelacanth, lizard, chicken, and mouse.
- Utilized RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to validate ovarian expression of candidate genes.
- Leveraged existing databases like UniGene for expressed sequence tag information.
Main Results:
- A higher percentage (69-78%) of Drosophila ovarian genes have vertebrate orthologs compared to all Drosophila genes (42% in mouse).
- Identified 177 Drosophila genes lacking vertebrate orthologs, likely involved in insect-specific oogenesis mechanisms.
- Discovered 73 zebrafish and 87 mouse ovarian-expressed orthologs, with 10 novel candidates validated for exclusive ovarian expression in fish and mammals.
Conclusions:
- Ovarian genes exhibit significantly higher evolutionary conservation across species than the general genome.
- The fruit fly serves as a valuable model for discovering conserved genes in mammalian oogenesis.
- This research provides a list of novel candidate genes potentially critical for mammalian ovarian function.
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