Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
Teleopsisdalmanni, Malaysian stalk-eyed flies are a species of flies that exhibit sex ratio (SR) meiotic drive, a selfish X chromosome allele that violates Mendel’s Law of Segregation. Drive prevents males from producing Y-bearing sperm, producing only female flies. Previous research has found six large inversions on the same region of the chromosome. In three regions of these inversions, an X-liked paralog for JASPer had high levels of expression and coverage compared to the standard (ST) X chromosome. JASPer is normally in association with JIL-1 protein to regulate the maintenance of euchromatin. The paralogs do not differ from the ST JASPer gene sequence but lack a binding domain for JIL-1, possibly causing dominant negative autoregulation. The regions were analyzed using PCR and gel electrophoresis, to determine which segment may contain replicate paralogs. In one segment we suspect a high level of replicate sequences that may be the cause of the drive, however this is not conclusive. The main goal of current research is to test when these replicate expression levels change. It is already known that flies with drive express higher levels of JASPer, however, it is not known when those levels are increased. The study hopes to answer the unknowns by dissecting male flies containing drive from different maturity levels. Then sequencing and analyzing the RNA from their testes, comparing it to the known expression levels of standard flies. This will help us understand when gene expression levels change during fly maturation.
Recommended Citation
Willitt, Connor, "307-Effects of Meiotic Drive on Developing Testis in Stalk-Eyed Flies" (2024). GREAT Day Posters. 85.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/great-day-symposium/great-day-2024/posters-2024/85
307-Effects of Meiotic Drive on Developing Testis in Stalk-Eyed Flies
Teleopsisdalmanni, Malaysian stalk-eyed flies are a species of flies that exhibit sex ratio (SR) meiotic drive, a selfish X chromosome allele that violates Mendel’s Law of Segregation. Drive prevents males from producing Y-bearing sperm, producing only female flies. Previous research has found six large inversions on the same region of the chromosome. In three regions of these inversions, an X-liked paralog for JASPer had high levels of expression and coverage compared to the standard (ST) X chromosome. JASPer is normally in association with JIL-1 protein to regulate the maintenance of euchromatin. The paralogs do not differ from the ST JASPer gene sequence but lack a binding domain for JIL-1, possibly causing dominant negative autoregulation. The regions were analyzed using PCR and gel electrophoresis, to determine which segment may contain replicate paralogs. In one segment we suspect a high level of replicate sequences that may be the cause of the drive, however this is not conclusive. The main goal of current research is to test when these replicate expression levels change. It is already known that flies with drive express higher levels of JASPer, however, it is not known when those levels are increased. The study hopes to answer the unknowns by dissecting male flies containing drive from different maturity levels. Then sequencing and analyzing the RNA from their testes, comparing it to the known expression levels of standard flies. This will help us understand when gene expression levels change during fly maturation.