Intron presence-absence polymorphism in Drosophila driven by positive Darwinian selection

Ana Llopart; Josep M Comeron; Frédéric G Brunet; Daniel Lachaise; Manyuan Long

doi:10.1073/pnas.122570299

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Intron presence-absence polymorphism in Drosophila driven by positive Darwinian selection

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Intron presence-absence polymorphism in Drosophila driven by positive Darwinian selection

Ana Llopart, Josep M Comeron, Frédéric G Brunet, Daniel Lachaise and Manyuan Long

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.99(12), pp.8121-8126

06/11/2002

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.122570299

PMCID: PMC123031

PMID: 12060758

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Abstract

Comparisons of intron-exon structures between homologous genes in different eukaryotic species have revealed substantial variation in the number of introns. These observations imply that, in each case, an intron presence-absence polymorphism must have existed in the past. Such a polymorphism, created by a recent intron-loss mutation, is reported here in a eukaryotic organism. This gene structure, detected in the jingwei (jgw) gene, segregates at high frequency (77%) in natural populations of Drosophila teissieri and is associated with a marked change in mRNA levels. Furthermore, the intron loss does not result from a mRNA-mediated mechanism as is usually proposed, but from a partial deletion at the DNA level that also results in the addition of four new amino acids to the JGW protein. Population genetic analyses of the pattern of nucleotide variation surrounding the intron polymorphism indicate the action of positive Darwinian selection on the intron-absent variant. Forward simulations suggest that the intensity of this selection is weak to moderate, roughly equal to the selection intensity on most replacement mutations in Drosophila.

Gene Duplication

Exons

Introns

Selection, Genetic

Molecular Sequence Data

Polymorphism, Genetic

Biological Evolution

DNA - genetics

DNA - isolation & purification

DNA - chemistry

Animals

Base Sequence

Computer Simulation

Models, Genetic

Drosophila - genetics

Details

Title: Subtitle: Intron presence-absence polymorphism in Drosophila driven by positive Darwinian selection
Creators: Ana Llopart - Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Josep M Comeron
Frédéric G Brunet
Daniel Lachaise
Manyuan Long
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.99(12), pp.8121-8126
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.122570299
PMID: 12060758
PMCID: PMC123031
NLM abbreviation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN: 0027-8424
eISSN: 1091-6490
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences; United States
Language: English
Date published: 06/11/2002
Academic Unit: Biology
Record Identifier: 9983991961202771

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