Introduction
This article reports a predicted gene model generated by undergraduate work using a structured
gene model annotation protocol defined by the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP;
thegep.org) for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). The following
information in quotes may be repeated in other articles submitted by participants using the same
GEP CURE protocol for annotating Drosophila species orthologs of Drosophila melanogaster
genes in the insulin signaling pathway.
“Computational gene predictions in non-model organisms often can be improved by careful
manual annotation and curation, allowing for more accurate analyses of gene and genome
evolution (Mudge and Harrow 2016; Tello-Ruiz et al., 2019). The Genomics Education
Partnership (thegep.org) uses web-based tools to allow undergraduates to participate in course-
based research by generating manual annotations of genes in non-model species (Rele et al.,
2023). These models of orthologous genes across species, such as the one presented here,
then provide a reliable basis for further evolutionary genomic analyses when made available to
the scientific community. The particular gene ortholog described here, Insulin-like peptide 3
(Ilp3) in D. eugracilis, was characterized as part of a developing dataset to study the evolution of
the Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway (IIS) across the genus Drosophila.”
(Myers et al., 2024).
“The IIS pathway is a highly conserved signaling pathway in animals and is central to mediating
organismal responses to nutrients (Hietakangas and Cohen 2009; Grewal 2009)” (Myers et al.,
2024). “Invertebrate insulins function similarly to metazoan insulin-like growth factors and play a
role in cell and organ growth (Chan 2000). In Drosophila, seven insulin-like peptides (Ilp1-Ilp7)
have a two-chain structure similar to vertebrate insulin and interact with the sole insulin-like
receptor, InR, to initiate the insulin signaling cascade (Brogiolo et al., 2001; Nässel and Broeck
2016). Like the Ilp2 and Ilp5 genes, the Ilp3 gene is expressed in median neurosecretory cells
(MNCs) in the brain (Ikeya et al., 2002). While the seven Ilps act redundantly with respect to
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2
promoting growth, they also have unique expression patterns and functions (Ikeya et al., 2002;
Grönke et al., 2010). Ilp3 may act with the transcription factor dFOXO in a positive feedback
loop to regulate Ilp2 and Ilp5 secretion from MNCs (Grönke et al., 2010). In female Drosophila,
ablation of MNCs or knockout of Ilp3 have been shown to reduce fecundity and remating rates
(Grönke et al., 2010; Wigby et al., 2011). Knockout of Ilp3 also results in sleep defects
(Yamaguchi et al., 2022).” (Gruys et al., 2024).
“D. eugracilis (NCBI taxon ID 29029) is part of the melanogaster species group within the
subgenus Sophophora of the genus Drosophila (Pélandakis and Solignac, 1993). It was first
described as Tanygastrella gracilis by Duda (1924) and revised to Drosophila eugracilis by Bock
and Wheeler (1972). D. eugracilis is found in humid tropical and subtropical forests across
southeast Asia (https://www.taxodros.uzh.ch, accessed 1 Feb 2023).” (Morgan et al., 2022).
We propose a gene model for the D. eugracilis ortholog of the D. melanogaster Insulin-like
peptide 3 (Ilp3) gene. The genomic region of the ortholog corresponds to the uncharacterized
protein XP_017080989.1 (Locus ID LOC108114482) in the D. eugracilis Apr. 2013 (BCM-
HGSC/Deug_2.0) (DeugGB2) Genome Assembly of D. eugracilis (GCA_000236325.2 - Chen et
al., 2014). This model is based on RNA-Seq data from D. eugracilis (PRJNA63469) and Ilp3 in
D. melanogaster using FlyBase release FB2024_02 (GCA_000001215.4; Gramates et al., 2022;
Jenkins et al., 2022; Larkin et al., 2021).
Synteny
The target gene, Ilp3, occurs on chromosome 3L in D. melanogaster and is nested by CG32052
alongside Insulin-like peptide 4 (Ilp4) (upstream) and Insulin-like peptide 2 (Ilp2) (downstream).
Ilp3 is flanked further upstream by Inhibitor-2 (I-2) and CG43897, which nests Insulin-like
peptide 5 (Ilp5) and downstream by Insulin-like peptide 1 (Ilp1) and Z band alternatively spliced
PDZ-motif protein 67 (Zasp67). The tblastn search of D. melanogaster Ilp3-PA (query) against
the D. eugracilis Apr. 2013 (BCM-HGSC/Deug_2.0) (DeugGB2) Genome Assembly of D.
eugracilis (GCA_000236325.2 - Chen et al., 2014) placed the putative ortholog of Ilp3 within
scaffold scf7180000409711 (KB465257.1) at locus LOC108114482 (XP_017080989.1)— with
an E-value of 7e-16 and a percent identity of 46.43%. Furthermore, the putative ortholog is
nested by LOC108114479 (XP_017080986.1) alongside LOC108114483 (XP_017080990.1)
upstream, and LOC108113894 (XP_017080088.1) and LOC108114481 (XP_017080988.1)
downstream (E-value: 0.0, 1e-38, 1e-68 and 3e-53; identity: 91.26%, 60.00%, 57.40% and
59.71%, respectively, as determined by blastp; Figure 1A, Altschul et al., 1990). The putative
ortholog is flanked further upstream by LOC108114226 (XP_017080582.1) and LOC108114224
(XP_017080566.1), which nests LOC108114228 (XP_017080583.1); that correspond to I-2,
CG43897 and Ilp5 in D. melanogaster (E-value: 1e-100, 0.0 and 2e-38; identity: 85.37%,
80.83% and 56.25%, respectively, as determined by blastp). The putative ortholog of Ilp3 is
flanked downstream by LOC108114480 (XP_017080987.1) and LOC108114478
(XP_017080982.1), which correspond to Ilp1 and Zasp67 in D. melanogaster (E-value: 3e-59
and 0.0; identity: 63.64% and 82.66%, respectively, as determined by blastp). The putative
ortholog assignment for Ilp3 in D. eugracilis is supported by the following evidence: The genes
surrounding the Ilp3 ortholog are orthologous to the genes at the same locus in D.
melanogaster, aside from the insertion of CG33483. Local synteny is completely conserved,
supported by results generated from blastp, so we conclude that LOC108114482 is the correct
ortholog of Ilp3 in D. eugracilis (Figure 1A).
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Protein Model
Ilp3 in D. eugracilis has two CDSs within the genome sequence. The unique protein sequence
(Ilp3-PA) is translated from one mRNA isoform (Ilp3-RA; Figure 1B). Relative to the ortholog in
D. melanogaster, the CDS number and protein isoform count are conserved. The sequence of
Ilp3-PA in D. eugracilis has 68.63% identity (E-value: 2e-48) with the protein-coding isoform
Ilp3-PA in D. melanogaster, as determined by blastp (Figure 1C). Regions which lack
conservation are highlighted in purple in the dot plot and protein alignment (I, II, III and IV in
Figure 1C and Figure 1D, respectively). Coordinates of this curated gene model are stored by
NCBI at GenBank/BankIt (accession BK059552). This gene model can also be seen within the
target genome at this TrackHub.
Reference
gene is retrieved through the Gene Record Finder
(https://gander.wustl.edu/~wilson/dmelgenerecord/index.html; Rele et al., 2023). Approximate
splice sites within the target gene are determined using tblastn using the CDSs from the D.
melanogaster reference gene. Coordinates of CDSs are then refined by examining aligned
modENCODE RNA-Seq data, and by applying paradigms of molecular biology such as
identifying canonical splice site sequences and ensuring the maintenance of an open reading
frame across hypothesized splice sites. Students then confirm the biological validity of their
target gene model using the Gene Model Checker
(https://gander.wustl.edu/~wilson/dmelgenerecord/index.html; Rele et al., 2023), which
compares the structure and translated sequence from their hypothesized target gene model
against the D. melanogaster reference gene model. At least two independent models for a gene
are generated by students under mentorship of their faculty course instructors. Those models
are then reconciled by a third independent researcher mentored by the project leaders to
produce the final model. Note: comparison of 5' and 3' UTR sequence information is not
included in this GEP CURE protocol.” (Gruys et al., 2025)
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4
Figure 1: Ilp3 gene model comparison between Drosophila eugracilis and Drosophila
melanogaster orthologs
(A) Synteny comparison of the genomic neighborhoods for Ilp3 in Drosophila melanogaster and
D. eugracilis. Thin underlying arrows indicate the DNA strand within which the target gene –Ilp3–is
located in D. melanogaster (top) and D. eugracilis (bottom). Thin arrows pointing to the left indicate that
Ilp3 is on the negative (-) strand in D. eugracilis and D. melanogaster. The wide gene arrows pointing in
the same direction as Ilp3 are on the same strand relative to the thin underlying arrows, while wide gene
arrows pointing in the opposite direction of Ilp3 are on the opposite strand relative to the thin underlying
arrows. White gene arrows in D. eugracilis indicate orthology to the corresponding gene in D.
melanogaster, while black gene arrows indicate non-orthology . Gene symbols given in the D. eugracilis
gene arrows indicate the orthologous gene in D. melanogaster, while the locus identifiers are specific to
D. eugracilis. (B) Gene Model in GEP UCSC Track Data Hub (Raney et al., 2014). The coding-regions
of Ilp3 in D. eugracilis are displayed in the User Supplied Track (black); coding CDSs are depicted by
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thick rectangles and introns by thin lines with arrows indicating the direction of transcription. Subsequent
evidence tracks include BLAT Alignments of NCBI RefSeq Genes (dark blue, alignment of Ref -Seq genes
for D. eugracilis), Spaln of D. melanogaster Proteins (purple, alignment of Ref-Seq proteins from D.
melanogaster), Transcripts and Coding Regions Predicted by TransDecoder (dark green), RNA -Seq from
Adult Females, Adult Males and Mixed Embryos (red, light blue and purple, respectively; alignment of
Illumina RNA-Seq reads from D. eugracilis), and Splice Junctions Predicted by regtools using D.
eugracilis RNA-Seq (PRJNA63469). The splice junction shown in green (JUNC00079281) has a read-
depth of 50. (C) Dot Plot of Ilp3-PA in D. melanogaster (x-axis) vs. the orthologous peptide in D.
eugracilis (y-axis). Amino acid number is indicated along the left and bottom; CDS number is indicated
along the top and right, and CDSs are also highlighted with alternating colors. Line breaks in the dot plot
indicate mismatching amino acids at the specified location between species. Regions that lack
conservation are highlighted in purple (Box Ia, IIa, IIIa and IVa, respectively). (D) Protein alignment
between D. melanogaster Ilp3-PA and its putative ortholog in D. eugracilis. The alternating colored
rectangles represent adjacent exons. The symbols in the match line denote the level of similarity between
the aligned residues. An asterisk (*) indicates that the aligned residues are identical. A colon (:) indicates
the aligned residues have highly similar chemical properties—roughly equivalent to scoring > 0.5 in the
Gonnet PAM 250 matrix (Gonnet et al., 1992). A period (.) indicates that the aligned residues have
weakly similar chemically properties—roughly equivalent to scoring > 0 and ≤ 0.5 in the Gonnet PAM 250
matrix. A space indicates a gap or mismatch when the aligned residues have a complete lack of
similarity—roughly equivalent to scoring ≤ 0 in the Gonnet PAM 250 matrix. Areas highlighted in purple
(Ib, IIb, IIIb and IVb) correspond to similarly labeled regions in the dot plot (Ia, IIa, IIIa and IVa).
Supplemental files:
1. Zip file containing a FASTA, PEP, GFF files for the gene model
2. Figure 1 in high resolution
Metadata: Bioinformatics, Genomics, Drosophila, Genotype Data, New Finding
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