MBE Advance Access published online on April 25, 2003
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msg109
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2003; all rights reserved
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1 Molecular Biology and Genetics, 107 Biotechnology Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: brian.lazzaro{at}cornell.edu.
Insects respond to septic infection, in part, by producing a suite of antimicrobial peptides that may be subject to host-pathogen co-evolutionary dynamics. In order to infer population genetic forces acting on Drosophila antibacterial peptide genes, we examine global properties of polymorphism and divergence in the Drosophila melanogaster Defensin, Drosocin, Metchnikowin, Attacin C, Diptericin A, and Cecropin A, B, and C genes. As a functional class, antibacterial peptides exhibit low levels of interspecific amino acid divergence. There are multiple amino acid polymorphisms segregating within D. melanogaster, however, a high proportion of which change the charge or polarity of the variable residue. These polymorphisms are particularly prevalent in processed signal and propeptide domains. We find that models of co-evolutionary "arms races" and selectively maintained hypervariability do not adequately describe the population dynamics of mature antibacterial peptides in D. melanogaster, but that a highly significant excess of high frequency derived polymorphisms coupled with substantial intralocus linkage disequilibrium suggests that positive selection may act on antibacterial peptide genes. Some attributes of the data may be consistent with a simple demographic model of population founding followed by expansion, but departures from the equilibrium null tend to be more pronounced in the peptide genes than at other loci around the genome.
© 2003 Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Original Articles
Molecular Population Genetics of Inducible Antibacterial Peptide Genes in Drosophila melanogaster
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