title: Compensatory cis-trans evolution and the dysregulation of gene expression in interspecific hybrids of Drosophila.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, The Biological laboratories, 16 Divinity Avenue, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Christian R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Patricia J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wittkopp
authors.forename: Clifford H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Taubes
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ranz
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hartl
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008957:Models, Genetic; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D050436:Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics*