Landry, C.R., Wittkopp, P.J., Taubes, C.H., Ranz, J.M., Clark, A.G., Hartl, D.L. (2005). Compensatory cis-trans evolution and the dysregulation of gene expression in interspecific hybrids of Drosophila.  Genetics 171(4): 1813--1822.

FBrf0190735

Research paper

Hybrids between species are often characterized by novel gene-expression patterns. A recent study on allele-specific gene expression in hybrids between species of Drosophila revealed cases in which cis- and trans-regulatory elements within species had coevolved in such a way that changes in cis-regulatory elements are compensated by changes in trans-regulatory elements. We hypothesized that such coevolution should often lead to gene misexpression in the hybrid. To test this hypothesis, we estimated allele-specific expression and overall expression levels for 31 genes in D. melanogaster, D. simulans, and their F1 hybrid. We found that 13 genes with cis-trans compensatory evolution are in fact misexpressed in the hybrid. These represent candidate genes whose dysregulation might be the consequence of coevolution of cis- and trans-regulatory elements within species. Using a mathematical model for the regulation of gene expression, we explored the conditions under which cis-trans compensatory evolution can lead to misexpression in interspecific hybrids.

PMC1456106 (PMC) (EuropePMC)