Selection footprints in European fruit flies

What is it about?

Drosophila melanogaster is a cosmopolitan insect that has spread out of sub-Saharan Africa after the last ice age. Using a population genetics approach, we have shown that adaptation to colder European climates has left natural selection footprints in the genome of the fruit fly. We also proposed a network of 8 candidate genes that might be strongly related to cold tolerance in this species.

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Why is it important?

We have used a combination of population genetics approaches to eliminate false positives that often arise in population genetics studies of selection. We believe that the genes with the strongest adaptive signals should be good candidates for future functional studies to better understand genetics of cold adaptation in exotherms.