Racial divergence in abdominal bristles among parental races and newly evolved cytoraces of nasuta-albomicans complex of Drosophila.

Cytoraces are the products of interracial hybridization between Drosophila nasuta nasuta and D. nasuta albomicans. These races differ from their parents in the chromosome composition, mating preference, certain fitness phenotypes and also a few morphophenotypic traits. Now, these cytoraces are passing through 330 generations. Racial divergence in the 4th and 5th abdominal bristles among the parental races and the newly evolved cytorace 1 and 2 is reported. The results revealed that the parental races have more number of bristles than newly evolved cytoraces. Thus, these cytoraces are evolved/evolving with reduced abdominal bristle number and better fitness.     

The speciation history of the Drosophila nasuta complex

The Drosophila nasuta subgroup of the immigrans species group is widely distributed throughout the South-East Asian region, consisting of morphologically similar species with varying degrees of reproductive isolation. Here, I report nucleotide variability data for five X-linked and two mtDNA loci in eight taxa from the nasuta subgroup, with deeper sampling from D. albomicans and its sister species D. nasuta. Phylogenetic relationships among these species vary among different genomic regions, and levels of genetic differentiation suggest that this species group diversified only about one million years ago. D. albomicans and D. nasuta share nucleotide polymorphisms and are distinguished by relatively few fixed differences. Patterns of genetic differentiation between this species pair are compatible with a simple isolation model with no gene flow. Nucleotide variability levels of species in the nasuta group are comparable to those in members of the melanogaster and pseudoobscura species groups, indicating effective population sizes on the order of several million. Population genetic analyses reveal that summaries of the frequency distribution of neutral polymorphisms in both D. albomicans and D. nasuta generally fit the assumptions of the standard neutral model. D. albomicans is of particular interest for evolutionary studies because of its recently formed neo-sex chromosomes, and our phylogenetic and population genetic analyses suggest that it might be an ideal model to study the very early stages of Y chromosome evolution.     

The chromosomes of two Drosophila races: D. nasuta nasuta and D. nasuta albomicana

The microchromosomes of the totally cross fertile Drosophila races, D. nasuta nasuta and D. nasuta albomicana have been studied in nietaphase and polytene nuclei. In metaphase the microchromosome of D. n. albomicana is nearly five times longer than the homologous chromosome in D. n. nasuta. As shown by C-banding these length differences are mainly due to a massive addition of heterochromatin to the D. n. albomicana chromosome. In polytene nuclei these striking heterochromatin differences between the microchromosomes of the two Drosophila races cannot be observed. Analysis of the polytene banding pattern shows that the microchromosomes of both races differ by an inversion and by a duplication, present only in D. n, albomicana. The location and orientation of the duplicated regions in D. n. albomicana leads to a specific loop like chromosome configuration. On the basis of these differences within the Drosophila races studied it is assumed that the karyotype of D. n. albomicana is a more recent evolutionary product.     

Bottleneck effect on intra- and interspecific competition in Drosophila malerkotliana

Intra and interspecific competition experiments involving control and bottleneck lines of monomorphic and polymorphic populations of D.malerkotliana with D.nasuta nasuta have been carried out. Productivity and population size were evaluated in these lines. The results show that control line had higher relative fitness and adaptedness (productivity and population size) under both intra and interspecific competition than their respective bottleneck lines and D.nasuta nasuta. This indicates that bottlenecks have an effect on competition in D.malerkotliana. The consequence of such competition studies using control and bottleneck lines of D.malerkotliana and D.nasuta nasuta is discussed.     

Divergent strategies for adaptation to desiccation stress in two Drosophila species of immigrans group

Water balance mechanisms have been investigated in desert Drosophila species of the subgenus Drosophila from North America, but changes in mesic species of subgenus Drosophila from other continents have received lesser attention. We found divergent strategies for coping with desiccation stress in two species of immigrans group--D. immigrans and D. nasuta. In contrast to clinal variation for body melanization in D. immigrans, cuticular lipid mass showed a positive cline in D. nasuta across a latitudinal transect (10°46'-31°43'N). Based on isofemale lines variability, body melanization showed positive correlation with desiccation resistance in D. immigrans but not in D. nasuta. The use of organic solvents has supported water proofing role of cuticular lipids in D. nasuta but not in D. immigrans. A comparative analysis of water budget of these two species showed that higher water content, reduced rate of water loss and greater dehydration tolerance confer higher desiccation resistance in D. immigrans while the reduced rate of water loss is the only possible mechanism to enhance desiccation tolerance in D. nasuta. We found that carbohydrates act as metabolic fuel during desiccation stress in both the species, whereas their rates of utilization differ significantly between these two species. Further, acclimation to dehydration stress improved desiccation resistance due to increase in the level of carbohydrates in D. immigrans but not in D. nasuta. Thus, populations of D. immigrans and D. nasuta have evolved different water balance mechanisms under shared environmental conditions. Multiple measures of desiccation resistance in D. immigrans but reduction in water loss in D. nasuta are consistent with their different levels of adaptive responses to wet and dry conditions on the Indian subcontinent.     

Hybridization and introgression of the genomes of Drosophila nasuta and Drosophila albomicans: evolution of new karyotypes.

Drosophila nasuta (2n = 8) and Drosophila albomicans (2n = 6) are cross-fertile allopatric sibling chromosomal races of the nasuta subgroup of Drosophila. Hybrids of these races can be maintained for any number of generations. Some of the introgressed hybrid lineages of D. nasuta and D. albomicans, after passing through a transient phase of karyotypic polymorphism, ended up with a stable karyotype whose composition is different from those of the parental races. Such hybrid populations were called cytoraces, in which the chromosomes of D. nasuta and D. albomicans are represented in different combinations. The karyotypic composition of 16 such cytoraces have been presented and discussed with reference to evolutionary strategies such as balancing selection, directional selection, and sex-specific effect on different components of the evolving karyotypes.     

Male accessory gland secretions in hybrids of Drosophila nasuta nasuta and D. n. albomicans neither show luxuriance nor breakdown

Male accessory gland secretions, which have a role to play in reproduction have been investigated. The number of cells that make up the gland, the quantity of secretions synthesized and the influence of these secretions on fecundity of the female have been studied in D. n. nasuta, D. n. albomicans and their F1 progeny. The results revealed that the hybrid males show a trend towards D. n. nasuta in the synthesis of male accessory gland proteins and the fecundity of the female is influenced more by its genetic constitution rather than the quantity of accessory gland secretions.     

Molecular phylogeny of the nasuta subgroup of Drosophila based on 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and CoI mitochondrial genes, RAPD and ISSR polymorphisms

The nasuta subgroup is a cluster of morphologically almost similar forms with a wide range of geographic distribution. During the last three decades nature of inter-relationship among the members has been investigated at different levels of organization. The phylogenetic relationships of the members of the nasuta subgroup of the immigrans species group of Drosophila was made by employing Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Inter Simple Sequence Repeats-PCR (ISSR-PCR) polymorphisms, mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (CoI) gene sequences. The phylogenetic tree generated by RAPD analysis is in nearly complete congruence with the classification based on morphophenotypic characters. The 12S and 16S rRNA genes were highly conserved across the nasuta subgroup and revealed only 3 and 4 variable sites respectively, of which only one site was informative. The CoI gene, on the other hand, revealed 57 variable sites of which 25 sites were informative. All the three species of orbital sheen complex were included in a major cluster in the phylogenetic trees derived from mitochondrial gene sequence data consistent with the morphophenotypic classification. The CoI analysis placed two species of frontal sheen complex, D. n. nasuta and D. n. albomicans in two different clades and this is inconsistent with morphological classification. The molecular clock suggested that divergence between the kohkoa complex and the albomicans complex occurred approximately 2.2 MYA, indicating recent evolution of the nasuta subgroup. The higher transition bias in the mitochondrial genes reported in the present study also suggested recent evolution of the nasuta subgroup.     

Rates and patterns of chromosomal evolution in Drosophila pseudoobscura and D. miranda

Comparisons of gene orders between species permit estimation of the rate of chromosomal evolution since their divergence from a common ancestor. We have compared gene orders on three chromosomes of Drosophila pseudoobscura with its close relative, D. miranda, and the distant outgroup species, D. melanogaster, by using the public genome sequences of D. pseudoobscura and D. melanogaster and approximately 50 in situ hybridizations of gene probes in D. miranda. We find no evidence for extensive transfer of genes among chromosomes in D. miranda. The rates of chromosomal rearrangements between D. miranda and D. pseudoobscura are far higher than those found before in Drosophila and approach those for nematodes, the fastest rates among higher eukaryotes. In addition, we find that the D. pseudoobscura chromosome with the highest level of inversion polymorphism (Muller's element C) does not show an unusually fast rate of evolution with respect to chromosome structure, suggesting that this classic case of inversion polymorphism reflects selection rather than mutational processes. On the basis of our results, we propose possible ancestral arrangements for the D. pseudoobscura C chromosome, which are different from those in the current literature. We also describe a new method for correcting for rearrangements that are not detected with a limited set of markers.     

Metaphase chromosomes of four species of the Drosophila nasuta subgroup

Metaphase chromosomes of four species of the Drosophila nasuta subgroup, D. nasuta, D. kepulauana, D. kohkoa, and D. neveifrons, were analysed by the C banding method to clarify the chromosomal differentiation during speciation. Four species were different in heterochromatic regions of their chromosomes, especially microchromosomes of the fourth chromosomes and the Y chromosomes. Intraspecific variations of heterochromatic regions were also found among isofemale lines from various localities of D. nasuta, D. kepulauana, and D. kohkoa. Intraspecific variations of heterochromatic regions were not different from interspecific variations morphologically. From these results, the evolutionary process of heterochromatic regions was discussed.     

Electron microscopic band-interband pattern of polytene chromosomes in Drosophila nasuta albomicans. 2. Salivary gland chromosome 2L.

The band-interband pattern (division 28-52) of salivary gland chromosome 2L in Drosophila nasuta albomicans was studied by light (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) using squash preparations and surface-spread polytene (SSP) chromosome preparations, respectively. LM and EM maps were complied. Based on the digitized EM patterns of five homologous SSP chromosomes a computerized EM chromosome map was plotted. The EM pattern analysis showed a total number of 479 chromosome bands with an almost 83% increase compared with the LM analysis of squash preparations. By extrapolation of the data from 39% of the polytene genome analysed so far in D. n. albomicans, a total number of 2,926 chromosome bands was calculated. This is almost the same number of bands as was calculated earlier for Drosophila hydei using the same SSP chromosome preparation technique. The data in the literature concerning variations in the number of chromosome bands in different Drosophila species, the various chromosome preparation techniques adopted, and the different criteria used for the EM pattern analyses, are discussed.     

Phylogeny and evolution of the Drosophila nasuta subgroup based on mitochondrial ND4 and ND4L gene sequences

The sequences of the mitochondrial ND4 gene (1339 bp) and the ND4L gene (290 bp) were determined for all the 14 extant taxa of the Drosophila nasuta subgroup. The average A + T content of ND4 genes is 76.5% and that of ND4L genes is 83.5%. A total of 114 variable sites were scored. The ND4 gene sequence divergence ranged from 0 to 5.4% within the subgroup. The substitution rate of the ND4 gene is about 1.25% per million years. The base substitution of the genes is strongly transition biased. Neighbor-joining and parsimony were used to construct a phylogeny based on the resultant sequence data set. According to these trees, five distinct mtDNA clades can be identified. D. niveifrons represents the most diverged lineage. D. sulfurigaster bilimbata and D. kepulauana form two independent lineages. The other two clades are the kohkoa complex and the albomicans complex. The kohkoa complex consists of D. sulfurigaster sulfurigaster, D. pulaua, D. kohkoa, and Taxon-F. The albomicans complex can be divided into two groups: D. nasuta, D. sulfurigaster neonasuta, D. sulfurigaster albostrigata, and D. albomicans from Chiangmai form one group; and D. pallidifrons, Taxon-I, Taxon-J, and D. albomicans from China form the other group. High genetic differentiation was found among D. albomicans populations. Based on our phylogenetic results, we hypothesize that D. niveifrons diverged first from the D. nasuta subgroup in Papua New Guinea about 3.5 Mya. The ancestral population spread to the north and when it reached Borneo, it diversified sequentially into the kohkoa complex, D. s. bilimbata, and D. kepulauana. About 1 Mya, another radiation occurred when the ancestral populations reached the Indo-China Peninsula, forming the albomicans complex. Discrepancy between morphological groupings and phylogenetic results suggests that the male morphological traits may not be orthologous.     

Introgressive hybridization and evolution of a novel protein phenotype: Glue protein profiles in thenasuta-albomicans complex ofDrosophila

Glue proteins are tissue-specific proteins synthesized by larval salivary gland cells ofDrosophila. InDrosophila nasuta nasuta andD. n. albomicans of thenasuta subgroup, the genes that encode the major glue protein fractions are X-linked. In the present study, these X-linked markers have been employed to trace the pattern of introgression ofD. n. nasuta andD. n. albomicans genomes with respect to the major glue protein fractions in their interracial hybrids, called cytoraces. These cytoraces have inherited the chromosomes of both parents and have been maintained in the laboratory for over 400–550 generations. The analysis has revealed that cytoraces withD. n. albomicans X chromosome show eitherD. n. nasuta pattern or a completely novel pattern of glue protein fractions. Further, quantitative analysis also shows lack of correlation between the chromosomal pattern of inheritance and overall quantity of the major glue protein fractions in the cytoraces. Thus, in cytoraces the parental chromosomes are not just differentially represented but there is evidence for introgression even at the gene level.     

The chromosomes of two Drosophila races: D. nasuta nasuta and D. n. albomicana

Heterochromatin distribution and differentiation in metaphase chromosomes of two morphologically identical Drosophila races, D. nasuta nasuta and D. n. albomicana, have been studied by C- and N-banding methods. — The total heterochromatin values differ only slightly between these races. However, homologous chromosomes of the two Drosophila forms show striking differences in the size of heterochromatin regions and there is an alternating pattern in D. n. nasuta and D. n. albomicana of chromosomes which contain more, or respectively less heterochromatin than their counterparts in the other race. — Three different N-banding patterns could be obtained depending on the conditions of the method employed: One banding pattern occurs which corresponds to the C-banding pattern. Another pattern is the reverse of the C-band pattern; the euchromatic chromosome regions and the centromeres are stained whereas the pericentric heterochromatin regions remain unstained. In the Y chromosomes of both races and in chromosome 4 of D. n. albomicana, however, the heterochromatin is further differentiated. In the third N-banding pattern only the centromeres are deeply stained. Furthermore, between the races, subtle staining differences in the pericentric heterochromatin regions can be observed as verified in F₁ hybrids. On the basis of C- and N-banding results specific aspects of chromosomal differences between D. n. nasuta and D. n. albomicana are discussed.Dedicated to Prof. W. Beermann on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Incipient sexual isolation in the nasuta-albomicans complex of Drosophila: mating preference in male-, female- and multiple-choice mating experiments

Interracial divergence is an important facet of speciation. Thenasuta-albomicans complex ofDrosophila with sixteen morphologically identical, karyotypically different but cross-fertile races is an excellent system to study a few dimensions of raciation.Drosophila nasuta nasuta, Drosophila nasuta albomicans, Cytorace 1, Cytorace 2, Cytorace 3 and Cytorace 4 of this subgroup have been subjected to male-, female- and multiple-choice mating experiments. Out of 8456 crosses conducted, 7185 had successful matings. The overall impression is that mating is far from random amongst these six closely related races of thenasuta-albomicans complex. The males ofD. n. albomicans, Cytorace 1 and Cytorace 4 in male-choice, the females of Cytorace 1 and Cytorace 2 in female-choice, and the males and females ofD. n. nasuta, D. n. albomicans, Cytorace 1 and Cytorace 4 against the males and females of Cytorace 2 in multiple-choice experiments, had significantly more homogamic matings than expected. Thus in this study of evolutionary experimentation on raciation under laboratory conditions, we have documented the initiation of preference for con-specific matings among closely related and independently evolving members of thenasuta-albomicans complex ofDrosophila.     

Dispharynx nasuta (Nematoda) in California quail (Callipepla californica) in western Oregon

Seventy-six California quail (Callipepla californica) were collected during a 22-mo period from the E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area near Monmouth, Oregon. Dispharynx nasuta occurred in 38% of the birds with a mean intensity of 4.9 +/- 5.1. In one of 2 yr, host age was significantly associated with prevalence, with immature males showing the highest prevalence (73%). Although C. californica has been the subject of several parasitological surveys, this is the first record of D. nasuta in this host.     

Patterns of replication in the neo-sex chromosomes ofDrosophila nasuta albomicans

Drosophila nasuta albomicans (with 2n = 6), contains a pair of metacentric neo-sex chromosomes. Phylogenetically these are products of centric fusion between ancestral sex (X, Y) chromosomes and an autosome (chromosome 3). The polytene chromosome complement of males with a neo-X- and neo-Y-chromosomes has revealed asynchrony in replication between the two arms of the neo-sex chromosomes. The arm which represents the ancestral X-chromosome is faster replicating than the arm which represents ancestral autosome. The latter arm of the neo-sex chromosome is synchronous with other autosomes of the complement. We conclude that one arm of the neo-X/Y is still mimicking the features of an autosome while the other arm has the features of a classical X/Y-chromosome. This X-autosome translocation differs from the other evolutionary X-autosome translocations known in certain species ofDrosophila.     

伊米果蝇种组（Drosophila immigrans species group）H2a-H2b和Cyt b分子系统发育关系（简报）

伊米果蝇种组(Drosophila immigrans speciesgroup)是果蝇科(Drosophilidae)、果蝇属(Drosophi-la)、果蝇亚属(Drosophila)中数量最多的一个类群,主要分布于东洋区。在分类学上该种组分为nasuta、immigrans、hypocausta、quadrilineata和curviceps五个种亚组(species subgroup)[1],东洋区果蝇区系中伊米果蝇种组中包括94个种,其中有45个种分布在中国[2]。而且curviceps种亚组是1992年新建立的中国特有果蝇类群[3]。迄今,对伊米果蝇种组分子系统关系的报道还很少,有些物种的归属仍存在争议。伊米果蝇种组还有些问题需要探讨[4]。组蛋白基因…     

Electron microscopic band-interband pattern of polytene chromosomes in Drosophila nasuta albomicans. 1. Salivary gland chromosome 2R

The band-interband pattern of salivary gland chromosome 2R in Drosophila nasuta albomicans (division 53-83) was studied by light (LM) and electron microscopy (EM) using squash preparations and surface-spread polytene (SSP) chromosome preparations, respectively. LM and EM maps were compiled. Based on the digitized EM patterns of five homologous SSP chromosomes a computerized chromosome map was plotted. The EM pattern analysis showed a total number of 662 chromosome bands with an almost 98% increase compared with the LM analysis of squash preparations. The majority (about 92%) of interband lengths in SSP chromosome 2R ranged between 0.25 and 0.64 microns, which equal about 0.8-2.1 kb of totally extended DNA or 2.5-6.4 kb of DNA, if a DNA packing ratio of 0.1 microns/kb is assumed for the interbands of SSP chromosomes.