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William J. Etges Office: SCEN 732 Phone: 575-6358 wetges@uark.edu

Degrees:

Research Interests:

Ongoing projects involve ecological, physiological, genetic, and systematic approaches to adaptation and speciation. A majority of work involves study of the relationships between cactophilic Drosophila and their host plants.

1. We continue to evaluate genetic and ecological determination of sexual isolation among geographically isolated populations of Drosophila mojavensis as a model for understanding the origins of new species. QTL analysis of courtship songs and epicuticular hydrocarbon variation known to influence patterns of mate choice both within and between populations has revealed how genetic architectures of speciation are influenced by natural ecological variation.
2. We are beginning a large NSF funded project in collaboration with Allen Gibbs using oligo-DNA microarrays based on the recently released genome sequence of D. mojavensis to assess patterns of gene expression in geographically isolated populations characterized by different life histories, epicuticular hydrocarbon profiles, and sexual isolation.  Results of these microarray studies will allow us to identify gene expression differences associated with different host plants, differences across different life stages, responses to temperature and desiccation differences, and allow comparison of gene expression profiles in wild vs. laboratory reared flies.  We are particularly interested in understanding genomic responses to heat and dessication stress as model for understanding the consequences of global warming.
3. We are completing analyses of sexual isolation among species in the Drosophila buzzatii species complex from Brazil and Argentina in order to more precisely understand the evolution of premating reproductive isolation in this monophyletic group of cactophilic Drosophila. Comparative analyses of sexual isolation, epicuticular hydrocarbon variation, and courtship song differences will provide insight into rates of trait differentiation in these recently diverged taxa.
4. Continuing collaboration with Max Levitan has resulted in new insights into the effects of global warming on chromosome frequencies in D. robusta.

Academic Interests:

Population/quantitative genetics, genetics of adaptation, natural and sexual selection in the wild, causes for reproductive isolation, speciation, systematics.

Lab Website:

Recent Publications:

Etges, W. J. and A. D. Tripodi. 2008. Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. VIII. Mating success mediated by epicuticular hydrocarbons within and between isolated populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, in press.

Beckenbach, A. T., W. B. Heed, and W. J. Etges. 2008. A mitochondrial DNA analysis of vicariant speciation in two lineages in the Drosophila mulleri subgroup. Evolutionary Ecology Research 10:475-492.

Etges, W. J., C. C. de Oliveira, E. Gragg, D. Ortíz-Barrientos, M. A. F. Noor and M. G. Ritchie. 2007.  Genetics of incipient speciation in Drosophila mojavensis. I. Male courtship song, mating success and genotype x environment interactions. Evolution 61: 1106-1119.

Etges, W. J., C. L. Veenstra, and L. L. Jackson.  2006.  Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. VII.  Effects of larval dietary fatty acids on adult epicuticular hydrocarbons.  J. Chemical Ecology 32: 2629-2646.

Funk, D. J., P. Nosil, and W. J. Etges. 2006. Ecological divergence exhibits consistently positive associations with reproductive isolation across disparate taxa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 103:3209–3213.