Abstract
The regulatory architecture of gene expression remains an area of active research. Here, we studied how the interplay of genetic and environmental variation affects gene expression by exposing Drosophila melanogaster strains to four different developmental temperatures. At 18°C we observed almost complete canalization with only very few allelic effects on gene expression. In contrast, at the two temperature extremes, 13°C and 29°C a large number of allelic differences in gene expression were detected due to both cis- and trans-regulatory effects. Allelic differences in gene expression were mainly dominant, but for up to 62% of the genes the dominance swapped between 13 and 29°C. Our results are consistent with stabilizing selection causing buffering of allelic expression variation in non-stressful environments. We propose that decanalization of gene expression in stressful environments is not only central to adaptation, but may also contribute to genetic disorders in human populations.
Highlights
Canalization, the buffering of a phenotype against environmental or genetic perturbation, has been independently suggested by Schmalhausen [1] and Waddington [2]
The two inbred D. melanogaster strains Oregon R (O) and Samarkand (S) were crossed and eggs laid at 23°C were transferred to four different development temperatures (13°C, 18°C, 23°C and 29°C, Fig. 1)
Comparing the F1 individuals from crosses of Samarkand with Oregon R in both directions we tested for the presence of imprinting in our experiments
Summary
Animal rearing and handlingFlies were reared on standard cornmeal-molasse-yeast-agar medium and maintained at 12 h light/12 h dark conditions. After two days of egg laying at 23°C four subsets of 20 vials was transferred at four different temperatures (13°C, 18°C, 23°C, and 29°C).
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