Venom gland transcriptomes for parasitoid wasps Urolepis rufipes, Trichomalopsis sarcophagae, Nasonia vitripennis, and N. giraulti

By what processes new genetic functions arise and evolve remains an important question in biology. The classic model for the evolution of novel function is through gene duplication followed by neofunctionalization. However, other modes have also been found, such as novel genes arising from non-coding DNA, chimeric fusions, and lateral gene transfers from other organisms. Here we investigate the evolution of novel venom proteins by reconstructing the evolutionary history of genes expressed in the specialized venom gland of parasitoid wasps Urolepis rufipes, Trichomalopsis sarcophagae, Nasonia vitripennis, and N. giraulti (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae). We used the transcriptome and proteomic data to define the venom set in each species and found a total of 451 venom proteins among the four species, forming 183 homologous groups. From the pattern of gains and losses in the venom proteins, we propose that cooption of single copy genes may be a common but relatively understudied mechanism of evolution of new gene functions, particularly under conditions of rapid evolutionary change.

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Martinson EO, Mrinalini, Kelkar YD, Chang CH, Werren JH