Recombinant inbred line panels inform the genetic architecture and interactions of adaptive traits in Drosophila melanogaster.

The distribution of allelic effects on traits, along with their gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions, contributes to the phenotypes available for selection and the trajectories of adaptive variants. Nonetheless, uncertainty persists regarding the effect sizes underlying adaptations and the importance of genetic interactions. Herein, we aimed to investigate the genetic architecture and the epistatic and environmental interactions involving loci that contribute to multiple adaptive traits using 2 new panels of Drosophila melanogaster recombinant inbred lines (RILs).

Recombinant inbred line panels inform the genetic architecture and interactions of adaptive traits in .

The distribution of allelic effects on traits, along with their gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interactions, contributes to the phenotypes available for selection and the trajectories of adaptive variants. Nonetheless, uncertainty persists regarding the effect sizes underlying adaptations and the importance of genetic interactions. Herein, we aimed to investigate the genetic architecture and the epistatic and environmental interactions involving loci that contribute to multiple adaptive traits using two new panels of recombinant inbred lines (RILs).

The evolution of larger size in high-altitude Drosophila melanogaster has a variable genetic architecture.

Important uncertainties persist regarding the genetic architecture of adaptive trait evolution in natural populations, including the number of genetic variants involved, whether they are drawn from standing genetic variation, and whether directional selection drives them to complete fixation. Here, we take advantage of a unique natural population of Drosophila melanogaster from the Ethiopian highlands, which has evolved larger body size than any other known population of this species. We apply a bulk segregant quantitative trait locus mapping approach to 4 unique crosses between highland Ethiopian and lowland Zambian populations for both thorax length and wing length.

Ethanol resistance in has increased in parallel cold-adapted populations and shows a variable genetic architecture within and between populations.

Understanding the genetic properties of adaptive trait evolution is a fundamental crux of biological inquiry that links molecular processes to biological diversity. Important uncertainties persist regarding the genetic predictability of adaptive trait change, the role of standing variation, and whether adaptation tends to result in the fixation of favored variants. Here, we use the recurrent evolution of enhanced ethanol resistance in during this species' worldwide expansion as a promising system to add to our understanding of the genetics of adaptation.

Recurrent Collection of Drosophila melanogaster from Wild African Environments and Genomic Insights into Species History.

A long-standing enigma concerns the geographic and ecological origins of the intensively studied vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This globally distributed human commensal is thought to originate from sub-Saharan Africa, yet until recently, it had never been reported from undisturbed wilderness environments that could reflect its precommensal niche. Here, we document the collection of 288 D.

Life history evolution and cellular mechanisms associated with increased size in high-altitude Drosophila.

Understanding the physiological and genetic basis of growth and body size variation has wide-ranging implications, from cancer and metabolic disease to the genetics of complex traits. We examined the evolution of body and wing size in high-altitude Drosophila melanogaster from Ethiopia, flies with larger size than any previously known population. Specifically, we sought to identify life history characteristics and cellular mechanisms that may have facilitated size evolution.

Decanalization of wing development accompanied the evolution of large wings in high-altitude Drosophila.

In higher organisms, the phenotypic impacts of potentially harmful or beneficial mutations are often modulated by complex developmental networks. Stabilizing selection may favor the evolution of developmental canalization--that is, robustness despite perturbation--to insulate development against environmental and genetic variability. In contrast, directional selection acts to alter the developmental process, possibly undermining the molecular mechanisms that buffer a trait's development, but this scenario has not been shown in nature.