Evolutionary Divergence of the JNK Regulator puckered: A Comparative Genomic Analysis of Drosophila willistoni and Drosophila pseudoobscura to Drosophila melanogaster 


Presenter: Jadyn Kiley

Group Members: Anna Galoyan

Faculty Sponsor: Jessica Crowley

School: Quinsigamond Community College

Research Area: Genetics

Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Auditorium, A12

ABSTRACT

Signaling pathways are fundamental biological systems that regulate how cells respond to environmental stressors, such as oxidative stress, and how these cells influence processes involved in aging. The Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) signaling pathway mediates stress responses that regulate tissue morphogenesis, wound healing, regeneration, and apoptosis. The Puckered gene encodes a dual-specificity phosphatase that functions as a critical negative regulator of the JNK signaling pathway. During oxidative stress, increased JNK activity induces puckered expression, and the resulting phosphatase attenuates JNK signaling to maintain cellular homeostasis under stress. This project aims to annotate the puckered (puc) gene in the fruit fly species Drosophila willistoni and Drosophila pseudoobscura by comparing them to the well-annotated D. melanogaster reference genome. Using evidence collected from Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) tools (including the UCSC Genome Browser, NCBI BLAST) our analysis will determine how the puc gene has been conserved or altered over evolutionary time. By comparing D. willistoni and D. pseudoobscura with D. melanogaster we will identify shifts in genomic neighborhood and gene architecture. This research contributes to a broader understanding of how signaling pathway genes evolve and how species-specific adaptations to oxidative stress are reflected in JNK pathway regulation. This project is part of the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) Pathways Project.