Recurrent innovation of protein-protein interactions in the Drosophila piRNA pathway

Despite being essential for fertility, genome defence pathway genes often evolve rapidly. However, little is known about the molecular basis of this adaptation. Here, we characterize the evolution of a protein interaction network within the PIWI-interacting small RNA (piRNA) genome defence pathway in Drosophila at unprecedented scale and evolutionary resolution. We uncover pervasive rapid evolution of a protein interaction network anchored at the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) paralog Rhino. Using complementary phylogenetic analysis, high-throughput yeast-two-hybrid matrix screening, and in vivo interaction analyses in cross-species transgenic flies, we characterized three distinct evolutionary protein interaction trajectories across ∼40 million years of Drosophila evolution. The data set covering 11 piRNA pathway proteins of five Drosophila species revealed several protein interactions that are fully conserved, indicating functional conservation despite overall rapid amino acid sequence change. Other interactions are preserved through co-evolution and were detected only between proteins within or from closely related species. We also identified sets of species-restricted protein interactions which, through rewiring of a Rhino-anchored transcription factor network, may preserve critical roles in enabling and adapting piRNA production from heterochromatic loci. In sum, our analyses dissected principles of interaction evolution in an adaptively evolving protein-protein interaction network uncovering evolutionary and functional insight into germline piRNA production across Drosophila species. Our work provides key experimental evidence in support of a model proposing that intermolecular interaction innovation is a major molecular mechanism of evolutionary adaptation in protein-coding genes.