University of Rochester: Daven C. Presgraves

Daven C. Presgraves

Associate Professor

Contact Information:

University of Rochester
Department of Biology
River Campus Box 270211
Rochester, New York 14627-0211

Hutchison 478 (office)
Hutchison 480 (lab)

daven.presgraves@rochester.edu

(585) 275-8946 (office)
(585) 276-2183 (lab)

Daven C. Presgraves

Research Overview

Presgraves Lab Website

Our lab studies a variety of questions in evolutionary genetics using Drosophila as a model system. We combine classical, molecular, and population genetics to study the genetics of speciation, the interaction of recombination and natural selection, and the evolutionary dynamics of the selfish meiotic drive gene complex, Segregation Distorter.

Speciation Genetics

We study the genetics of postzygotic reproductive isolation--the sterility and inviability of species hybrids. Our work on the evolution of hybrid sterility and inviability takes advantage of the genetic and genomic resources of D. melanogaster and its sister species, D. simulans, D. sechellia, and D. mauritiana to map, identify, and characterize the 'speciation genes' that cause hybrid fitness problems.

We also determine the causes of the strong evolutionary rules that characterize the evolution of hybrid sterility and inviability, like Haldane's rule and the large X-effect.

Recombination and adaptation

We study the interaction of natural selection and recombination in two ways. First, we use population genetics to test the considerable body of theory that predicts that genetic linkage constrains adaptation. Second, we are now studying the genetic basis of the evolutionary divergence of local recombination rates among closely related Drosophila species.

Segregation Distorter

The Segregation Distorter (SD) system of Drosophila melanogaster is a classic selfish gene complex. The multiple, linked, epistatically interacting loci of the SD complex function together to gain a transmission advantage from heterozygous males by, in effect, killing rival sperm that bare homologous chromosomes. We are now studying the evolutionary dynamics of SD in natural populations and inferring the timing and geography of its origins.

Selected Publications

Meiklejohn, C.D. and D.C. Presgraves 2012 Little evidence for demasculinization of the Drosophila X chromosome among genes expressed in the male germline. Genome Biology and Evolution 4: 895-904.
Cattani, M.V., S.B. Kingan and D.C. Presgraves 2012 Cis- and trans-factors contribute to heterogeneity in the rate of crossing over among the Drosophila simulans clade species. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25: 2014-2022..
Larracuente, A.L. and D.C. Presgraves 2012 The selfish Segregation Distorter complex of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 192: 33-53.
Garrigan, D., S. Kingan, A. Geneva, K. Thornton, P. Andolfatto, A.G. Clark, and D.C. Presgraves 2012 Genome sequencing reveals complex speciation of the Drosophila simulans clade. Genome Research 22: 1499-1511.
Cattani, M.V. and D.C. Presgraves 2012 Incompatibility between X chromosome factor and pericentric heterochromatic region causes lethality in hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species. Genetics 191: 549-559.
Xu, K., S. Oh, T. Park, D.C. Presgraves and S.V. Yi 2012 Lineage-specific variation in slow- and fast-X evolution in primates. Evolution 66: 1751-1761.
Gérard, P.R. and D.C. Presgraves 2012 Abundant genetic variability in Drosophila simulans for hybrid female lethality in interspecific crosses to D. melanogaster. Genetics Research 94: 1-7.
Meiklejohn, C.D., E.L. Landeen, J.M. Cook, S.B. Kingan and D.C. Presgraves 2011 Sex chromosome-specific regulation in the Drosophila male germline but little evidence for chromosomal dosage compensation or meiotic inactivation. PLoS Biology 9: e1001126.
Presgraves, D.C. 2010 Speciation genetics: Search for the missing snowball. Current Biology 20: R1073-74.
Presgraves, D.C. 2010 Darwin and the origin of interspecific genetic incompatibilities. American Naturalist 176: S45-S60.
Presgraves, D.C. 2010 The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation. Nature Reviews Genetics 11: 175-180.
Presgraves, D.C. and S.V. Yi 2009 Doubts about complex speciation between humans and chimpanzees. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 24: 533-540.
Presgraves, D.C., P.R. Gérard, A. Cherukuri and T.W. Lyttle 2009 Large-scale selective sweep among Segregation Distorter chromosomes in African populations of Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genetics 5: e1000463.
Cattani, M.V. and D.C. Presgraves 2009 Genetics and lineage-specific evolution of a lethal hybrid incompatibility between Drosophila mauritiana and its sibling species. Genetics 181: 1545-1555.
Tang, S. and D.C. Presgraves 2009 Evolution of the Drosophila nuclear pore complex results in multiple hybrid incompatibilities. Science 323: 779-782.
Presgraves, D. C. 2008. Sex chromosomes and speciation in Drosophila. Trends in Genetics. 24: 336-343.
Masly, J.P. and D.C. Presgraves. 2007. High-resolution genome-wide dissection of the two rules of speciation in Drosophila. PLoS Biology 5: 1890-1898.
Presgraves, D.C. and W. Stephan. 2007. Pervasive adaptive evolution among interactors of the Drosophila hybrid inviability gene, Nup96. Mol. Biol. Evol 24: 306-314.
Presgraves, D.C.. 2006. Intron length evolution in Drosophila. Mol. Biol. Evol 23: 2203-2213.
Presgraves, D.C.. 2005. Recombination enhances protein adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr. Biol. 15: 1651-1656.
Presgraves, D.C., L. Balagopalan, S.A. Abmayr and H.A. Orr. 2003. Adaptive evolution drives divergence of a hybrid inviability gene between two species of Drosophila. Nature 243: 715-719 (See "News & Views" piece by M. Noor, pp. 699-700)..
Presgraves, D.C.. 2003. A fine-scale genetic analysis of hybrid incompatibilities in Drosophila. Genetics 163: 955-972.
Presgraves, D.C.. 2002. Patterns of postzygotic isolation in Lepidoptera. Evolution 56: 1168-1183.
Betancourt, A.B., D.C. Presgraves and W.J. Swanson. 2002. A test for faster X evolution in Drosophila. Mol. Biol. Evol. 19: 1816-1819.
Betancourt, A.B. and D.C. Presgraves. 2002. Linkage limits the power of natural selection in Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 99: 13616-13620 (Featured in "Dispatch" piece by G. Marais and B. Charlesworth in Curr. Biol. 13:R68-70)..
Presgraves, D.C. and H.A. Orr. 1998. Haldane's rule is obeyed in taxa lacking a hemizygous sex. Science 282: 952-954 (See "Perspectives" piece by M. Turelli).