Data from: Genetic architecture and functional characterization of genes underlying the rapid diversification of male external genitalia between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana

Male sexual characters are often among the first traits to diverge between
closely related species and identifying the genetic basis of such changes
can contribute to our understanding of their evolutionary history.
However, little is known about the genetic architecture or the specific
genes underlying the evolution of male genitalia. The morphology of the
claspers, posterior lobes and anal plates exhibit striking differences
between Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila simulans. Using QTL and
introgression-based high-resolution mapping, we identified several small
regions on chromosome arms 3L and 3R that contribute to differences in
these traits. However, we found that the loci underlying the evolution of
clasper differences between these two species are independent from those
that contribute to posterior lobe and anal plate divergence. Furthermore,
while most of the loci affect each trait in the same direction and act
additively, we also found evidence for epistasis between loci for clasper
bristle number. In addition, we conducted an RNAi screen in D.
melanogaster to investigate if positional and expression candidate genes
located on chromosome 3L, are also involved in genital development. We
found that six of these genes, including components of Wnt signaling and
male-specific lethal 3 (msl3), regulate the development of genital traits
consistent with the effects of the introgressed regions where they are
located and that thus represent promising candidate genes for the
evolution these traits.