Cytorace-3 is a laboratory evolved hybrid lineage of Drosophila nasuta nasuta males and Drosophila nasuta albomicans females currently passing ~850 generations. To assess interracial hybridization effects on gene expression in Cytorace-3 we profiled the transcriptomes of mature ovaries and testes by employing Illumina sequencing technology and de novo transcriptome assembling strategies. We found 26% of the ovarian, and 14% of testis genes to be differentially expressed in Cytorace-3 relative to the expressed genes in the parental gonadal transcriptomes. About 5% of genes exhibited additive gene expression pattern in the ovary and 3% in the testis, while the remaining genes were misexpressed in Cytorace-3. Nearly 772 of these misexpressed genes in the ovary and 413 in the testis were either over- or under-dominant. Genes following D. n. nasuta dominance was twice (270 genes) than D. n. albomicans dominance (133 genes) in the ovary. In contrast, only 105 genes showed D. n. nasuta dominance and 207 showed D. n. albomicans dominance in testis transcriptome. Of the six expression inheritance patterns, conserved inheritance pattern was predominant for both ovary (73%) and testis (85%) in Cytorace-3. This study is the first to provide an overview of the expression divergence and inheritance patterns of the transcriptomes in an independently evolving distinct hybrid lineage of Drosophila. This recorded expression divergence in Cytorace-3 surpasses that between parental lineages illustrating the strong impact of hybridization driving rapid gene expression changes.

Cytorace-3 is a laboratory evolved hybrid lineage of Drosophila nasuta nasuta males and Drosophila nasuta albomicans females currently passing ~850 generations. To assess interracial hybridization effects on gene expression in Cytorace-3 we profiled the transcriptomes of mature ovaries and testes by employing Illumina sequencing technology and de novo transcriptome assembling strategies. We found 26% of the ovarian, and 14% of testis genes to be differentially expressed in Cytorace-3 relative to the expressed genes in the parental gonadal transcriptomes. About 5% of genes exhibited additive gene expression pattern in the ovary and 3% in the testis, while the remaining genes were misexpressed in Cytorace-3. Nearly 772 of these misexpressed genes in the ovary and 413 in the testis were either over- or under-dominant. Genes following D. n. nasuta dominance was twice (270 genes) than D. n. albomicans dominance (133 genes) in the ovary. In contrast, only 105 genes showed D. n. nasuta dominance and 207 showed D. n. albomicans dominance in testis transcriptome. Of the six expression inheritance patterns, conserved inheritance pattern was predominant for both ovary (73%) and testis (85%) in Cytorace-3. This study is the first to provide an overview of the expression divergence and inheritance patterns of the transcriptomes in an independently evolving distinct hybrid lineage of Drosophila. This recorded expression divergence in Cytorace-3 surpasses that between parental lineages illustrating the strong impact of hybridization driving rapid gene expression changes.

PURPOSE: Asthma is a complex disease caused by interplay of genes and environment on the genome of an individual. Copy number variations (CNVs) are more common compared to the other variations that disrupt genome organization. The effect of CNVs on asthma subgenome has been less studied compared to studies on the other variations. We report the assessments of CNV burden in asthma genes of normal cohorts carried out in different geographical areas of the world and discuss the relevance of the observation with respect to asthma pathogenesis. METHODS: CNV analysis was performed using Affymerix high-resolution arrays, and various bioinformatics tools were used to understand the influence of genes on asthma pathogenesis. RESULTS: This study identified 61 genes associated with asthma and provided various mechanisms and pathways underlying asthma pathogenesis. CCL3L1, ADAM8, and MUC5B were the most prevalent asthma genes. Among them, CCL3L1 was found across all 12 populations in varying copy number states. This study also identified the inheritance of asthma-CNVs from parents to offspring creating the latent period for manifestation of asthma. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed CNV burden with varying copy number states and identified susceptibility towards the disease manifestation. It can be hypothesized that primary CNVs may not be the initiating event in the pathogenesis of asthma and additional preceding mutations or CNVs may be required. The initiator or primary CNVs sensitize normal cohorts leading to an increased probability of accumulating mutations or exposure to allergic stimulating agents that can augment the development of asthma.
Asthma* ; Cohort Studies* ; Computational Biology ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Genetic Markers ; Genome ; Humans ; Inheritance Patterns ; Parents ; Wills