The three-dimensional genome drives the evolution of asymmetric gene duplicates via enhancer capture-divergence.

Previous evolutionary models of duplicate gene evolution have overlooked the pivotal role of genome architecture. Here, we show that proximity-based regulatory recruitment by distally duplicated genes is an efficient mechanism for modulating tissue-specific production of preexisting proteins. By leveraging genomic asymmetries, we performed a coexpression analysis on tissue data to show the generality of enhancer capture-divergence (ECD) as a significant evolutionary driver of asymmetric, distally duplicated genes.

Comparative Single Cell Analysis of Transcriptional Bursting Reveals the Role of Genome Organization on Transcript Origination.

Spermatogenesis is a key developmental process underlying the origination of newly evolved genes. However, rapid cell type-specific transcriptomic divergence of the germline has posed a significant technical barrier for comparative single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) studies. By quantifying a surprisingly strong correlation between species-and cell type-specific divergence in three closely related species, we apply a simple statistical procedure to identify a core set of 198 genes that are highly predictive of cell type identity while remaining robust to species-specific differences that span over 25-30 million years of evolution.

Transcriptional and mutational signatures of the Drosophila ageing germline.

Ageing is a complex biological process that is accompanied by changes in gene expression and mutational load. In many species, including humans, older fathers pass on more paternally derived de novo mutations; however, the cellular basis and cell types driving this pattern are still unclear. To explore the root causes of this phenomenon, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on testes from young and old male Drosophila and genomic sequencing (DNA sequencing) on somatic tissues from the same flies.

Behavioral and Genomic Sensory Adaptations Underlying the Pest Activity of Drosophila suzukii.

Studying how novel phenotypes originate and evolve is fundamental to the field of evolutionary biology as it allows us to understand how organismal diversity is generated and maintained. However, determining the basis of novel phenotypes is challenging as it involves orchestrated changes at multiple biological levels. Here, we aim to overcome this challenge by using a comparative species framework combining behavioral, gene expression, and genomic analyses to understand the evolutionary novel egg-laying substrate-choice behavior of the invasive pest species Drosophila suzukii.