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Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity
The widespread occurrence of phenotypic plasticity across all domains of life demonstrates its evolutionary significance. However, how plasticity itself evolves and how it contributes to evolution is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the predatory nematode Pristionchus pacificus with its feedi...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10464979/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37590316 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002270 |
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author | Dardiry, Mohannad Eberhard, Gabi Witte, Hanh Rödelsperger, Christian Lightfoot, James W. Sommer, Ralf J. |
author_facet | Dardiry, Mohannad Eberhard, Gabi Witte, Hanh Rödelsperger, Christian Lightfoot, James W. Sommer, Ralf J. |
author_sort | Dardiry, Mohannad |
collection | PubMed |
description | The widespread occurrence of phenotypic plasticity across all domains of life demonstrates its evolutionary significance. However, how plasticity itself evolves and how it contributes to evolution is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the predatory nematode Pristionchus pacificus with its feeding structure plasticity using recombinant-inbred-line and quantitative-trait-locus (QTL) analyses between natural isolates. We show that a single QTL at a core developmental gene controls the expression of the cannibalistic morph. This QTL is composed of several cis-regulatory elements. Through CRISPR/Cas-9 engineering, we identify copy number variation of potential transcription factor binding sites that interacts with a single intronic nucleotide polymorphism. Another intronic element eliminates gene expression altogether, mimicking knockouts of the locus. Comparisons of additional isolates further support the rapid evolution of these cis-regulatory elements. Finally, an independent QTL study reveals evidence for parallel evolution at the same locus. Thus, combinations of cis-regulatory elements shape plastic trait expression and control nematode cannibalism. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10464979 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-104649792023-08-30 Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity Dardiry, Mohannad Eberhard, Gabi Witte, Hanh Rödelsperger, Christian Lightfoot, James W. Sommer, Ralf J. PLoS Biol Short Reports The widespread occurrence of phenotypic plasticity across all domains of life demonstrates its evolutionary significance. However, how plasticity itself evolves and how it contributes to evolution is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the predatory nematode Pristionchus pacificus with its feeding structure plasticity using recombinant-inbred-line and quantitative-trait-locus (QTL) analyses between natural isolates. We show that a single QTL at a core developmental gene controls the expression of the cannibalistic morph. This QTL is composed of several cis-regulatory elements. Through CRISPR/Cas-9 engineering, we identify copy number variation of potential transcription factor binding sites that interacts with a single intronic nucleotide polymorphism. Another intronic element eliminates gene expression altogether, mimicking knockouts of the locus. Comparisons of additional isolates further support the rapid evolution of these cis-regulatory elements. Finally, an independent QTL study reveals evidence for parallel evolution at the same locus. Thus, combinations of cis-regulatory elements shape plastic trait expression and control nematode cannibalism. Public Library of Science 2023-08-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10464979/ /pubmed/37590316 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002270 Text en © 2023 Dardiry et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Short Reports Dardiry, Mohannad Eberhard, Gabi Witte, Hanh Rödelsperger, Christian Lightfoot, James W. Sommer, Ralf J. Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title | Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title_full | Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title_fullStr | Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title_full_unstemmed | Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title_short | Divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
title_sort | divergent combinations of cis-regulatory elements control the evolution of phenotypic plasticity |
topic | Short Reports |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10464979/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37590316 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002270 |
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