Molecular evolution of the odorant-binding protein gene family in fruit flies of fraterculus group

• Grant number: 12/17160-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Reinaldo Otávio Alvarenga Alves de Brito
• Grantee: Emeline Boni Campanini
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The fruit flies of fraterculus group are noted for its great economic importance, since their larvae cause significant damage to crops of fleshy fruits. The species of this group exhibit great morphological similarity and intra-specific polymorphisms for most genes studied, besides producing viable inter-specific hybrids in some crosses in the laboratory. These factors suggest a recent evolutionary history for the group, which makes them a good model for the study of the processes involved in speciation events and population differentiation. The study of the odorant-binding protein gene family is particularly interesting, since these proteins participate in the initial step of the signal transduction cascade olfactory, solubilizing and transporting the chemical signals to the olfactory receptors. The comparative analysis of OBPs genes between closely related species can help in understanding how the repertoire of these genes in genomes is maintained under natural selection, as well as to understand the role played by various selective forces in shaping patterns of nucleotide variation, and provides clues the evolution of the size of gene families. The study of this gene family is also of great biological importance, since the olfactory information in insect controls various social and sexual interactions between individuals, like the detection of pheromones and odors, which are essential for survival and reproduction. OBPs genes will be sought in cDNA libraries of larvae and pupae, and also in cDNA libraries of reproductive and head tissues of males and females of the species Anastrepha fraterculus. The OBPs genes interesting in evolutionary point of view will be evaluated among species Anastrepha fraterculus, Anastrepha obliqua and Anastrepha sororcula, both through real-time PCR as through next-generation sequencing, in order to determine how much of the diversity will be involved in the differentiation between species and find genetic markers useful to search for species identification of that group.

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CAMPANINI, EMELINE BONI; CONGRAINS, CARLOS; TORRES, FELIPE RAFAEL; DE BRITO, REINALDO ALVES. . Odorant-binding proteins expression patterns in recently diverged species of Anastrepha fruit flies. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 7, MAY 19 2017. (12/17160-8, 10/20455-4)

CAMPANINI, EMELINE B.; VANDEWEGE, MICHAEL W.; PILLAI, NISHA E.; TAY, BOON-HUI; JONES, JUSTIN L.; VENKATESH, BYRAPPA; HOFFMANN, FEDERICO G.. Early Evolution of Vertebrate Mybs: An Integrative Perspective Combining Synteny, Phylogenetic, and Gene Expression Analyses. GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 7, n. 11, p. 3009-3021, NOV 2015. (12/17160-8)

CONGRAINS, CARLOS; CAMPANINI, EMELINE B.; TORRES, FELIPE R.; REZENDE, VICTOR B.; NAKAMURA, ALINE M.; DE OLIVEIRA, JANAINA L.; LIMA, ANDRE L. A.; CHAHAD-EHLERS, SAMIRA; SOBRINHO, JR., IDERVAL S.; DE BRITO, REINALDO A.. Evidence of Adaptive Evolution and Relaxed Constraints in Sex-Biased Genes of South American and West Indies Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 10, n. 1, p. 380-395, JAN 2018. (12/17160-8, 10/20455-4)

CAMPANINI, EMELINE BONI; DE BRITO, REINALDO ALVES. Molecular evolution of Odorant-binding proteins gene family in two closely related Anastrepha fruit flies. BMC Evolutionary Biology, v. 16, OCT 7 2016. (12/17160-8, 10/20455-4)