Abstract Tsetse flies are responsible for the transmission of Trypanossoma sp. to vertebrate animals in Africa causing huge health issues and economic loss. The availability of the genome sequence of Glossina morsitans enabled the discovery of several genes related to medically important phenotypes and novel physiological features. However, a genome-wide scan for coding regions that underwent positive selection is still missing, which is surprising given the evolution of traits associated with the hematophagy in this lineage. In this study, we employed an experimental design that controlled for the rate of false positives and we performed a scan of 3,318 G. morsitans genes. We found 145 genes with significant historical signal of positive selection. These genes were categorized into 18 functional classes after careful manual annotation. Based on their attributed functions, we identified candidate genes related with feeding habits and embryonic development. When our results were contrasted with gene expression data, we confirmed that most genes that underwent adaptive molecular evolution were frequently expressed in organs associated with key physiological evolutionary innovations in the G. morsitans lineage, namely, the salivary gland, the midgut, fat body tissue, and in the spermatophore.

中文翻译：

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对嗜血采采蝇基因组中阳性选择编码区的调查确定了与摄食习惯和胚胎发育相关的候选基因

摘要 采采蝇是锥虫属的传播媒介。给非洲的脊椎动物造成巨大的健康问题和经济损失。Glossina morsitans 基因组序列的可用性使得能够发现与医学上重要的表型和新的生理特征相关的几个基因。然而，仍然缺少对经历正选择的编码区域的全基因组扫描，考虑到与该谱系中嗜血相关性状的进化，这令人惊讶。在这项研究中，我们采用了一种控制假阳性率的实验设计，并对 3,318 个 G. morsitans 基因进行了扫描。我们发现了 145 个具有显着正选择历史信号的基因。经过仔细的手动注释，这些基因被分为 18 个功能类别。根据它们的属性功能，我们确定了与摄食习惯和胚胎发育相关的候选基因。当我们的结果与基因表达数据进行对比时，我们证实大多数经历适应性分子进化的基因经常在与 G. morsitan 谱系中关键生理进化创新相关的器官中表达，即唾液腺、中肠、脂肪体组织，并在精囊中。