Molecular Genetic Mechanisms Underlying the Genetic Correlation Involved in the Evolution of Functionally-Related Traits(1/2)

The genetic correlation of two male-specific functionally-related traits, wing spot (as amorphological trait) and wing display (as a behavioral trait), has been reported from QTL analysis inthe hybrid backcross progeny of two sibling species. Given that many genes participate in more thanone biological function and are involved in multiple developmental time points, the evolutionary theorypredicts that genetic correlation among different types of phenotypic traits is plausibly common. As thefirst stage of studying underlying genetic mechanisms for the co-option of these two functionallyrelatedtraits, we plan to identify genes involved in the development of these two traits. In order toacquire complete annotation and facilitate the analysis of genetic architecture in D. elegans and itssibling species, we will obtain the genomic sequencing by taking advantage of two NGS technologieswith complementary merits. Then, we propose to identify genes important to wing spot developmentand behavior initiation by studying gene expression in wings and brains under the framework ofinterspecific, sex-specific, and development-serial comparative transcriptome. Finally, we will confirmthe results from our large-scale transcriptome analysis in several conventional methods, includingquantitative RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, in silico analysis for the divergence of causal DNAsequence, and mutant phenotype assays. We expect to identify the major genetic factors on X-linkedgenes with sex-specific expression because 1) the overlapping QTL for both traits is on X chromosomeaccording to the previous study and 2) the traits of our interest are sex-specific.