Genome-wide search for parent-of-origin allele specific expression in Bombus terrestris.

This is a repository for the code used in the following publication:
Marshall, H., van Zweden, J. S., Van Geystelen, A., Benaets, K., Wäckers, F., Mallon, E.B. and Wenseleers, T. (2020). Genome-wide search for parent-of-origin allele specific expression in Bombus terrestris. bioRXiv. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.17.909168.

Genomic imprinting is the differential expression of alleles in diploid individuals, with the expression being dependent upon the sex of the parent from which it was inherited. Haig’s kinship theory hypothesizes that genomic imprinting is due to an evolutionary conflict of interest between alleles from the mother and father. In social insects, it has been suggested that genomic imprinting should be widespread. One recent study identified parent-of-origin expression in honeybees and found evidence supporting the kinship theory. However, little is known about genomic imprinting in insects and multiple theoretical predictions must be tested to avoid single-study confirmation bias. We, therefore, tested for parent-of-origin expression in a primitively eusocial bee. We found equal numbers of maternally and paternally biased expressed genes. The most highly biased genes were maternally expressed, offering support for the kinship theory. We also found low conservation of potentially imprinted genes with the honeybee, suggesting rapid evolution of genomic imprinting in Hymenoptera.

Project Team:

This project is part of the work from the Socioecology and Social Evolution lab in KU Leuven, headed by Prof. Tom Wenseleers see website and the Social Epigenetics group at the Unviersity of Leicester, headed by Dr. Eamonn Mallon, see website. The reciprocal crosses were carried out by Biobest (Westerlo, Belgium) under supervision of Prof. Felix Wäckers. Dr. Jelle van Zweden and Dr. Kristof Beneats carried out the behavioural observations and lab work. Dr. Hollie Marshall and Prof. Tom Wenseleers carried out the analyses with input from Dr. Anneleen Van Geystelen.

Additional Info

If you would like to use any of the code found here please cite the current pre-print found here.

Marshall, H., van Zweden, J. S., Van Geystelen, A., Benaets, K., Wäckers, F., Mallon, E.B. and Wenseleers, T. (2020). Genome-wide search for parent-of-origin allele specific expression in Bombus terrestris. bioRXiv. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.17.909168.

If you have any questions/comments etc. feel free to contact me at:

• email: [email protected]
• twitter: @mooholl