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Genetics, Vol. 177, 1321-1335, November 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.078865

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Evolution in the Fast Lane: Rapidly Evolving Sex-Related Genes in Drosophila

Wilfried Haerty*,1, Santosh Jagadeeshan*,1,2, Rob J. Kulathinal{dagger},1, Alex Wong{ddagger},1, Kristipati Ravi Ram{ddagger}, Laura K. Sirot{ddagger}, Lisa Levesque§, Carlo G. Artieri*, Mariana F. Wolfner{ddagger},1, Alberto Civetta§,1 and Rama S. Singh*,1,3

* Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada, {dagger} Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, {ddagger} Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and § Department of Biology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9, Canada

3 Corresponding author: Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4KI, Canada.
E-mail: singh{at}mcmaster.ca

A large portion of the annotated genes in Drosophila melanogaster show sex-biased expression, indicating that sex and reproduction-related genes (SRR genes) represent an appreciable component of the genome. Previous studies, in which subsets of genes were compared among few Drosophila species, have found that SRR genes exhibit unusual evolutionary patterns. Here, we have used the newly released genome sequences from 12 Drosophila species, coupled to a larger set of SRR genes, to comprehensively test the generality of these patterns. Among 2505 SRR genes examined, including ESTs with biased expression in reproductive tissues and genes characterized as involved in gametogenesis, we find that a relatively high proportion of SRR genes have experienced accelerated divergence throughout the genus Drosophila. Several testis-specific genes, male seminal fluid proteins (SFPs), and spermatogenesis genes show lineage-specific bursts of accelerated evolution and positive selection. SFP genes also show evidence of lineage-specific gene loss and/or gain. These results bring us closer to understanding the details of the evolutionary dynamics of SRR genes with respect to species divergence.




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