Dembeck Lauren M, Böröczky Katalin, Huang Wen, Schal Coby, Anholt Robert R H, Mackay Trudy F C
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States.
Genetics Program, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States.
Elife. 2015 Nov 14;4:e09861. doi: 10.7554/eLife.09861.
Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) prevent desiccation and serve as chemical signals that mediate social interactions. Drosophila melanogaster CHCs have been studied extensively, but the genetic basis for individual variation in CHC composition is largely unknown. We quantified variation in CHC profiles in the D. melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) and identified novel CHCs. We used principal component (PC) analysis to extract PCs that explain the majority of CHC variation and identified polymorphisms in or near 305 and 173 genes in females and males, respectively, associated with variation in these PCs. In addition, 17 DGRP lines contain the functional Desat2 allele characteristic of African and Caribbean D. melanogaster females (more 5,9-C27:2 and less 7,11-C27:2, female sex pheromone isomers). Disruption of expression of 24 candidate genes affected CHC composition in at least one sex. These genes are associated with fatty acid metabolism and represent mechanistic targets for individual variation in CHC composition.
昆虫表皮碳氢化合物(CHCs)可防止脱水,并作为介导社会互动的化学信号。黑腹果蝇的CHCs已得到广泛研究,但CHC组成个体差异的遗传基础在很大程度上尚不清楚。我们量化了黑腹果蝇遗传参考面板(DGRP)中CHC谱的变异,并鉴定出新型CHCs。我们使用主成分(PC)分析来提取解释大部分CHC变异的主成分,并分别在雌性和雄性中鉴定出与这些主成分变异相关的305个和173个基因内部或附近的多态性。此外,17个DGRP品系含有非洲和加勒比地区黑腹果蝇雌性特有的功能性Desat2等位基因(更多的5,9-C27:2和更少的7,11-C27:2,雌性性信息素异构体)。24个候选基因表达的破坏至少在一个性别中影响了CHC组成。这些基因与脂肪酸代谢相关,是CHC组成个体差异的机制靶点。