# Evolutionary and functional genomics of genetic novelties and expression adaptation in Drosophila

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2021 · $451,538

## Abstract

Adaptive transcriptome evolution likely underlies a substantial component of all adaptations. Here I propose to
study two main types of transcriptome evolution using Drosophila. First, we will identify genetic novelties,
focusing on reproductive tissues, including analysis at the single-cell level. We will then investigate the
functions of these novelties in two species using a variety of genetic and biochemical tools, including CRISPR
and RNAi to learn about the agents of selection acting on these novelties. Second, we will use population
approaches to characterize adaptive transcriptome divergence contributing to local adaptation within species,
and transcriptome adaptation over longer timescales between species. We will then use these results to infer
the fraction of the transcriptome evolving adaptively for multiple tissues and species. We will use genetic and
ATAC-seq experiments to investigate whether convergent expression adaptation generally has a shared
genetic basis or whether adaptation generally proceeds by different trajectories in different species.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10073526
- **Project number:** 5R35GM134930-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID J BEGUN
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $451,538
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10073526

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10073526, Evolutionary and functional genomics of genetic novelties and expression adaptation in Drosophila (5R35GM134930-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10073526. Licensed CC0.

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