skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Putative Condition-Dependent Viability Selection in Wild-Type Stocks of Drosophila pseudoobscura
Meiotic recombination rates vary in response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Recently, heat stress has been shown to reveal plasticity in recombination rates in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Here, a combination of molecular genotyping and X-linked recessive phenotypic markers were used to investigate differences in recombination rates due to heat stress. In addition, haplotypes from the genetic crosses were compared to test if they deviated from equal proportions, which would indicate viability selection. To avoid this potential bias, SNP genotyping markers overlapping the regions assayed with mutant markers were used to further investigate recombination rate. Interestingly, skews in haplotype frequency were consistent with the fixation of alleles in the wild-type stocks used that are unfit at high temperature. Evidence of viability selection due to heat stress in the wild-type haplotypes was most apparent on days 7–9 when more mutant non-crossover haplotypes were recovered in comparison to wild type (p < 0.0001). Recombination analysis using SNP markers showed days 9–10 as significantly different due to heat stress in 2 pairs of consecutive SNP markers (p = 0.018; p = 0.015), suggesting that during this time period the recombination rate is most sensitive to heat stress. This peak timing for recombination plasticity is consistent with Drosophila melanogaster based on a comparison of similarly timed key meiotic events, enabling future mechanistic work of temperature stress on recombination rate.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1939090
PAR ID:
10344388
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Cytogenetic and Genome Research
Volume:
162
Issue:
1-2
ISSN:
1424-8581
Page Range / eLocation ID:
76 to 93
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract BackgroundMeiosis is a specialized cell division that underpins sexual reproduction in most eukaryotes. During meiosis, interhomolog meiotic recombination facilitates accurate chromosome segregation and generates genetic diversity by shuffling parental alleles in the gametes. The frequency of meiotic recombination inArabidopsishas a U-shaped curve in response to environmental temperature, and is dependent on the Type I, crossover (CO) interference-sensitive pathway. The mechanisms that modulate recombination frequency in response to temperature are not yet known. ResultsIn this study, we compare the transcriptomes of thermally-stressed meiotic-stage anthers frommsh4andmus81mutants that mediate the Type I and Type II meiotic recombination pathways, respectively. We show that heat stress reduces the number of expressed genes regardless of genotype. In addition,msh4mutants have a distinct gene expression pattern compared tomus81and wild type controls. Interestingly,ASY1,which encodes a HORMA domain protein that is a component of meiotic chromosome axes, is up-regulated in wild type andmus81but not inmsh4. In addition,SDSthe meiosis-specific cyclin-like gene,DMC1the meiosis-specific recombinase,SYN1/REC8the meiosis-specific cohesion complex component, andSWI1which functions in meiotic sister chromatid cohesion are up-regulated in all three genotypes. We also characterize 51 novel, previously unannotated transcripts, and show that their promoter regions are associated with A-rich meiotic recombination hotspot motifs. ConclusionsOur transcriptomic analysis ofmsh4andmus81mutants enhances our understanding of how the Type I and Type II meiotic CO pathway respond to environmental temperature stress and might provide a strategy to manipulate recombination levels in plants. 
    more » « less
  2. Climate change has created an environment where heat stress conditions are becoming more frequent as temperatures continue to raise in crop production areas around the world. This situation leads to decreased crop production due to plant sensitivity to heat stress. Reproductive success is critically dependent on plants’ ability to produce functional pollen grains, which are the most thermo-sensitive tissue. Flavonols are plant secondary metabolites known for their potent antioxidative activity, essential for male fertility in several species including tomato, and implicated in heat stress tolerance. Since flavonols are highly abundant in fruits of the tomato high pigment 2 ( hp2 ) mutant, we tested the level of flavonols in pollen of this mutant, under the hypothesis that increased accumulation of flavonols would render pollen more tolerant to heat stress. Indeed, pollen from two alleles of the hp2 mutant was found to have flavonols levels increased by 18 and 280% compared with wild-type (WT) under moderate chronic heat stress (MCHS) conditions. This mutant produced on average 7.8-fold higher levels of viable pollen and displayed better germination competence under heat stress conditions. The percentage of fully seeded fruits and the number of seeds per fruit were maintained in the mutant under heat stress conditions while decreased in wild-type plants. Our results strongly suggest that increased concentrations of pollen flavonols enhance pollen thermotolerance and reproductive success under heat stress conditions. Thus, the high flavonols trait may help frame the model for improving crop resilience to heat stress. 
    more » « less
  3. Meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes is vital for maximizing genetic variation among offspring. However, sex-determining regions are often rearranged and blocked from recombination. It remains unclear whether rearrangements or other mechanisms might be responsible for recombination suppression. Here, we uncover that the deficiency of the DNA cytosine methyltransferase DNMT1 in the green algaChlamydomonas reinhardtiicauses anomalous meiotic recombination at the mating-type locus (MT), generating haploid progeny containing bothplusandminusmating-type markers due to crossovers withinMT. The deficiency of a histone methyltransferase for H3K9 methylation does not lead to anomalous recombination. These findings suggest that DNA methylation, rather than rearrangements or histone methylation, suppresses meiotic recombination, revealing an unappreciated biological function for DNA methylation in eukaryotes. 
    more » « less
  4. Baer, Charles (Ed.)
    Abstract Theories predict that directional selection during adaptation to a novel habitat results in elevated meiotic recombination rate. Yet the lack of population-level recombination rate data leaves this hypothesis untested in natural populations. Here, we examine the population-level recombination rate variation in two incipient ecological species, the microcrustacean Daphnia pulex (an ephemeral-pond species) and Daphnia pulicaria (a permanent-lake species). The divergence of D. pulicaria from D. pulex involved habitat shifts from pond to lake habitats as well as strong local adaptation due to directional selection. Using a novel single-sperm genotyping approach, we estimated the male-specific recombination rate of two linkage groups in multiple populations of each species in common garden experiments and identified a significantly elevated recombination rate in D. pulicaria. Most importantly, population genetic analyses show that the divergence in recombination rate between these two species is most likely due to divergent selection in distinct ecological habitats rather than neutral evolution. 
    more » « less
  5. Jaramillo-Lambert, Aimee (Ed.)
    Meiotic recombination plays an important role in ensuring proper chromosome segregation during meiosis I through the creation of chiasmata that connect homologous chromosomes. Recombination plays an additional role in evolution by creating new allelic combinations. Organisms display species-specific crossover patterns, but how these patterns are established is poorly understood.Drosophila mauritianadisplays a different meiotic recombination pattern compared toDrosophila melanogaster, withD. mauritianaexperiencing a reduced centromere effect, the suppression of recombination emanating from the centromeres. To evaluate the contribution of the synaptonemal complex (SC) C(3)G protein to these recombination rate differences, theD. melanogasterallele was replaced withD. mauritiana c(3)Gcoding sequence. We found that theD. mauritianaC(3)G could interact with theD. melanogasterSC machinery to build full length tripartite SC and chromosomes segregated accurately, indicating sufficient crossovers were generated. However, the placement of crossovers was altered, displaying an increase in frequency in the centromere-proximal euchromatin indicating a decrease in the centromere effect, similar to that observed inD. mauritianafemales. Recovery of chromatids with more than one crossover was also increased, likely due to the larger chromosome span now available for crossovers. As replacement of a single gene mediated a strong shift of one species’ crossover pattern towards another species, it indicates a small number of discrete factors may have major influence on species-specific crossover patterning. Additionally, it demonstrates the SC, a structure known to be required for crossover formation in many species, is likely one of these discrete factors. 
    more » « less