Evolutionary Genomics of Long Intergenic Non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) in Drosophila

非编码RNA的重要性在广泛的生物过程中变得越来越明显，但它们仍然是一个相对较新的话题，其功能和进化的许多方面仍然知之甚少。在非编码RNA中，长的基因间非编码（linc）RNA可能是最不了解的，但已知它们在剂量补偿、胚胎发育、干细胞维持和分化以及表达的表观遗传调节中发挥作用。拟开展的工作主要集中在拟暗果蝇（Drosophila pseudobscura）和透皮果蝇（Drosophila persimilis）的lincRNA上。RNA-seq将被用于编目在发育过程中lincRNA表达的变化，并且这些数据将被用于评估lincRNA序列和表达模式的差异。2-表征D. pseudoobscura和D. persimilis，重点是那些lincRNA的差异表达; 3-使用表达和序列数据比较种内多态性水平与种间差异水平，并将lincRNA的模式与蛋白质编码基因的模式进行比较。更广泛的影响包括高中学生和教师的夏季研究经验。参与者的选择将与该地区的少数民族高中合作进行，并将得到马里兰州大学系统的数学和科学伙伴关系赠款的帮助。还将提供本科生研究机会，招聘工作将部分通过马里兰州大学进行，部分通过巴拿马史密森热带研究所进行。

The importance of non-coding RNAs is becoming increasingly apparent for a wide range of biological processes, but they are still a relatively new topic, and many aspects of their function and evolution remain poorly understood. Long intergenic non-coding (linc) RNAs are perhaps least understood among the non coding RNAs, yet they are known to play roles in dosage compensation, embryonic development, stem cell maintenance and differentiation, and epigenetic regulation of expression. The proposed work is focused on lincRNAs across the species Drosophila pseudoobscura and Drosophila persimilis. RNA-seq will be used to catalog changes in lincRNA expression during development, and these data will be used to evaluate divergence in lincRNA sequence and expression patterns.The specific aims are the following: 1-Identify the lincRNAs in the D. pseudoobscura transcriptome using RNAseq data; 2-Characterize patterns of lincRNA expression in D. pseudoobscura and D. persimilis, with a focus on those lincRNAs that are differentially expressed; 3-Compare levels of intraspecific polymorphism to levels of interspecific divergence using expression and sequence data, and complare patterns for lincRNAs to patterns of protein-coding genes.Broader Impacts include a summer research experience for high school students and teachers. Participant selection will be done in collaboration with minority high schools in the area, and will be facilitated by a Math and Science Partnership grant to the University System of Maryland. Undergraduate research opportunities will also be provided, and recruitment will be done partly through the University of Maryland and partly through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.