The scorpionfly (Panorpa cognata) genome highlights conserved and derived features of the peculiar dipteran X chromosome

Many insects carry an ancient X chromosome—the Drosophila Muller element F—that likely predates their origin. Interestingly, the X has undergone turnover in multiple fly species (Diptera) after being conserved for more than 450 My. The long evolutionary distance between Diptera and other sequenced insect clades makes it difficult to infer what could have contributed to this sudden increase in rate of turnover. Here, we produce the first genome and transcriptome of scorpionflies (genus Panorpa), an insect belonging to a long overlooked sister-order to Diptera: Mecoptera. Combining our genome assembly with genomic short-read data, we obtain genome coverage and identify X-linked super-scaffolds. We further perform a gene homology analysis between the Panorpa X and a closely related Diptera species, and we assess the conservation of the Panorpa X-linked gene content with that of more distantly related insect species. We explored the structure of the Panorpa X by determining its repeat content, GC content, and nucleotide diversity. Finally, we used RNAseq data to detect the presence of dosage compensation in somatic tissues, as well as to explore gene expression tissue-specificity, and sex-bias in gene expression. We find high conservation of gene content between the mecopteran X and the dipteran Muller F element, as well as several shared biological features, such as the presence of dosage compensation and a low amount of genetic diversity, consistent with a low recombination rate. However, the 2 homologous X chromosomes differ strikingly in their size and number of genes they carry. Our results therefore support a common ancestry of the mecopteran and ancestral dipteran X chromosomes, and suggest that Muller element F shrank in size and gene content after the split of Diptera and Mecoptera, which may have contributed to its turnover in dipteran insects

Data from: Quantifying the relative contributions of the X chromosome, autosomes and mitochondrial genome to local adaptation

During local adaptation with gene flow, some regions of the genome are inherently more responsive to selection than others. Recent theory predicts that X-linked genes should disproportionately contribute to local adaptation relative to other genomic regions, yet this prediction remains to be tested. We carried out a multi-generation crossing scheme, using two cline-end populations of Drosophila melanogaster, to estimate the relative contributions of the X chromosome, autosomes and mitochondrial genome to adaptive divergence in four traits involved in local adaptation (wing size, and resistance to heat, desiccation, and starvation stresses). We found that the mitochondrial genome and autosomes contributed significantly to clinal divergence in three of the four traits. In contrast, the X made no significant contribution to divergence in these traits. Given the small size of the mitochondrial genome, our results indicate that it plays a surprisingly large role in clinal adaptation. In contrast, the X, which represents roughly 20% of the Drosophila genome, contributes negligibly – a pattern that conflicts with theoretical predictions. These patterns reinforce recent work implying a central role of mitochondria in climatic adaptation, and suggest that different genomic regions may play fundamentally different roles in processes of divergence with gene flow

Dryad X-files data

Raw wing size, heat, desiccation and starvation resistance data

Data from: Cross-sex genetic correlations and the evolution of sex-specific local adaptation: insights from classical trait clines in Drosophila melanogaster

Natural selection varies widely among locations of a species’ range, favouring population divergence and adaptation to local environmental conditions. Selection also differs between females and males, favouring the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Both forms of within-species evolutionary diversification are widely studied, though largely in isolation, and it remains unclear whether environmental variability typically generates similar or distinct patterns of selection on each sex. Studies of sex-specific local adaptation are also challenging because they must account for genetic correlations between female and male traits, which may lead to correlated patterns of trait divergence between sexes, whether or not local selection patterns are aligned or differ between the sexes. We quantified sex-specific divergence in five clinally variable traits in Drosophila melanogaster that individually vary in their magnitude of cross-sex genetic correlation (i.e., from moderate to strongly positive). In all five traits, we observed parallel male and female clines, regardless of the magnitude of their genetic correlation. These patterns imply that parallel spatial divergence of female and male traits is a reflection of sexually concordant directional selection imposed by local environmental conditions. In such contexts, genetic correlations between the sexes promote, rather than constrain, local adaptation to a spatially variable environment

Lasne et al. 2018 DATA

Lasne et al. 2018 DAT