Sex-dependent and sex-independent controls of size variation in natural populations
Size of organs and organisms is regulated by many genes and pathways but little is known about how such many factors are coordinated at the systems level. A recent MSB paper from the Hafen group (IMSB) unveils two differential gene regulatory systems of size variation control.
To study size variation control in natural populations, we have investigated the variation of genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes and size phenotypes using Drosophila wing as a model system. Performing multiple association studies among the omics layers, we found that size variation between sexes (sexual size dimorphism) is primarily regulated by previously established, canonical growth genes and pathways such as Wnt and TGFβ signaling pathways. In contrast, size variation within each sex is mostly controlled by novel growth genes with a variety of cellular functions. Supporting this finding, we show that expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) linked to these novel growth regulators accurately predict population-wide wing size variation within each sex. The study has shed light on system-wide gene regulatory mechanisms that differentially regulate sex-dependent and sex-independent size variations.
Link to the publication in external page "Molecular Systems Biology"