Mesosternal bristle number in a cosmopolitan drosophilid: an X-linked variable trait independent of sternopleural bristles |
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Authors: | Amir Yassin Amira Y Abou-Youssef Blanche Bitner-Mathe Pierre Capy Jean R David |
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Institution: | (1) CNRS, Lab. Evolution, Genomes et Speciation, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France;(2) Department of Genetics, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt;(3) Departmento de Genetica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Janeiro, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Mesosternal (MS) bristles in Drosophila are a pair of machrochaetae found at the sternal end of the sternopleural (STP) microchaetae, and are thought to be invariable.
In a closely related drosophilid genus, Zaprionus, their number is four and, in contrast to Drosophila, they show interspecific and intraspecific variability. The genetic basis of MS bristle number variability was studied in
Z. indianus, the only cosmopolitan species of the genus. The trait responded rapidly to selection and two lines were obtained, one lacking
any bristles (0-0) and the other bearing the normal phenotype (2-2). Other symmetrical phenotypes, (1-1) and (3-3), could
also be selected for, but with lesser success. By contrast, STP bristle number did not vary significantly between the two
lines (0-0) and (2-2), revealing its genetic independence from MS bristle number. Reciprocal crosses between these two lines
showed that MS bristle number is mainly influenced by a major gene on the X chromosome (i.e. F1 males always resembled their mothers) with codominant expression (i.e. heterozygous F1 females harboured an average phenotype of 2 bristles). However, trait penetrance was incomplete and backcrosses revealed
that this variability was partly due to genetic modifiers, most likely autosomal. The canalization of MS bristle number was
investigated under different temperatures, and the increased appearance of abnormal phenotypes mainly occurred at extreme
temperatures. There was a bias, however, towards bristle loss, as shown by a liability (developmental map) analysis. Finally,
when ancestral and introduced populations were compared, the latter were far less stable, suggesting that genetic bottlenecks
may perturb the MS bristle number canalization system. MS bristle number, thus, appears to be an excellent model for investigating
developmental canalization at both the quantitative and the molecular level. |
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Keywords: | bristle number canalization reaction norm selection drosophilid Zaprionus |
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