Category Archives: Uncategorized

DrosoPhyla: Resources for Drosophilid Phylogeny and Systematics 

Cédric Finet, Victoria A Kassner, Antonio B Carvalho, Henry Chung, Jonathan P Day, Stephanie Day, Emily K Delaney, Francine C De Ré, Héloïse D Dufour, Eduardo Dupim, Hiroyuki F Izumitani, Thaísa B Gautério, Jessa Justen, Toru Katoh, Artyom Kopp, Shigeyuki Koshikawa, Ben Longdon, Elgion L Loreto, Maria D S Nunes, Komal K B Raja, Mark Rebeiz, Michael G Ritchie, Gayane Saakyan, Tanya Sneddon, Machiko … Continue reading

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Widespread cis– and trans-regulatory evolution underlies the origin, diversification, and loss of a sexually dimorphic fruit fly pigmentation trait

Jesse T. Hughes, Melissa E. Williams, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas M. Williams https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.23068 Abstract Changes in gene expression are a prominent feature of morphological evolution. These changes occur to hierarchical gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of transcription factor genes that regulate the … Continue reading

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New Collaborative Publication!

Original Research ARTICLE Front. Ecol. Evol., 26 March 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00080 Gene Regulatory Network Homoplasy Underlies Recurrent Sexually Dimorphic Fruit Fly Pigmentation Jesse T. Hughes1, Melissa E. Williams1, Rachel Johnson1, Sumant Grover1, Mark Rebeiz2* and Thomas M. Williams1,3* 1Department of … Continue reading

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Yang Liu, Mark Rebeiz, and company published a paper in Current Biology detailing the genetic events responsible for the evolution of a fruit fly color trait. Spoiler, lots of cis-regulatory evolution involved.

Curr Biol. 2019 Jul 8;29(13):2157-2166.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.074. Epub 2019 Jun 27. Changes throughout a Genetic Network Mask the Contribution of Hox Gene Evolution. Liu Y1, Ramos-Womack M2, Han C3, Reilly P3, Brackett KL4, Rogers W5, Williams TM5, Andolfatto P6, Stern … Continue reading

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Recent Williams Lab Publication in the journal Developmental Biology

Dev Biol. 2018 Sep 1;441(1):159-175. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.07.001. Epub 2018 Jul 4. Augmentation of a wound response element accompanies the origin of a Hox-regulated Drosophila abdominal pigmentation trait. Grover S1, Williams ME1, Kaiser R1, Hughes JT1, Gresham L1, Rebeiz M2, Williams … Continue reading

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Cis-regulatory evolution integrated the Bric-à-brac transcription factors into a novel fruit fly gene regulatory network

Maxwell J Roeske, Eric M Camino, Sumant Grover, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas Michael Williams  Cite as: eLife 2018;7:e32273 doi: 10.7554/eLife.32273 Abstract Gene expression evolution through gene regulatory network (GRN) changes has gained appreciation as a driver of morphological evolution. However, understanding … Continue reading

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Using Drosophila pigmentation traits to study the mechanisms of cis-regulatory evolution

One primary agenda of the developmental evolution field is to elucidate molecular mechanisms governing differences in animal form. While mounting evidence has established an important role for mutations in transcription controlling cis-regulatory elements (CREs), the underlying mechanisms that translate these … Continue reading

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Drosophilaphilia #2: Silencing silencers to evolve new patterns

Drosophilaphilia #2: Silencing silencers to evolve new patterns.   Nice thoughtful overview on my collaborator’s new publication!

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Collaborators publish a study showing how evolutionary changes in a transcriptional silencer shaped the repeated evolution of a fruit fly trait. Might be a first description of a pervasive mechanism of evolutionary change!

Genetic Changes to a Transcriptional Silencer Element Confers Phenotypic Diversity within and between Drosophila Species Winslow C. Johnson , Alison J. Ordway , Masayoshi Watada, Jonathan N. Pruitt, Thomas M. Williams, Mark Rebeiz Author Summary One of the greatest challenges … Continue reading

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Eric Camino, John Butts and team get published in PLoS Genetics!!

The Evolutionary Origination and Diversification of a Dimorphic Gene Regulatory Network through Parallel Innovations in cis andtrans Eric M. Camino, John C. Butts, Alison Ordway, Jordan E. Vellky, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas M. Williams “Author Summary The genomic content of regulatory … Continue reading

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