Genetic Basis of Sexual Isolation in Drosophila melanogaster

Sexual isolation between Zimbabwe (abbreviated as Z) and cosmopolitan (abbreviated as M) races exists in Drosophila melanogaster. Typically, when given a choice, the females from the Zimbabwe race mate only with males from the same race, whereas females from the cosmopolitan race mate readily with males from both races non-discriminatorily. Genetic tools available in this experimental organism permit the detail genetic analyses of the sexual isolation behavior. On the other hand, the search for the actual signaling systems involved in the mate recognition is still limited in this system. In this paper, we review the studies, which attempt to dissect the genetic basis of the sexual isolation system, and document the complex features of the genetic architecture and the behavioral traits that evolved at an incipient stage of speciation. The evolution and the maintenance of this behavioral polymorphism are also discussed.     

Genetic analysis of muscle development in Drosophila melanogaster

The different thoracic muscles of Drosophila are affected specifically in the mutants: stripe (sr), erect wing (ewg), vertical wings (vtw), and nonjumper (nj). We have tested the extent of this specificity by means of a genetic analysis of these loci, multiple mutant combinations, and gene dosage experiments. A quantitative, rather than a qualitative, specificity is found in the mutant phenotypes. All muscles are altered by mutations in any given gene, but the severity of these alterations is muscle specific. The locus stripe seems to have a polar organization where different allelic combinations show quantitative specificity in the muscle affected. In addition to the muscle phenotypes, neural alterations are detected in these mutants. The synergism found between ewg, vtw and ewg, sr as well as the dosage effect of the distal end of the X chromosome upon the expression of ewg and sr suggests the existence of functional relationships among the loci analyzed.     

Genetic control of macrochaetae development in Drosophila melanogaster

The Drosophila head and body have a regular species-specific pattern of strictly defined number of external sensory organs--macrochaetae (large bristles). The pattern constancy and relatively simple organization of each bristle organ composed of only four specialized cells makes macrochaetae a convenient model to study the developmental patterns of spatial structures with a fixed number of elements in specific positions as well as the mechanisms of cell differentiation. The experimental data on the major genes and their products controlling three stages of macrochaetae development--the emergence of proneural clusters in the imaginal disc ectoderm, the precursor cell determination in the proneural clusters, and the specialization of cells of the definitive sensory organ--were reviewed. The role of the achaeta-scute gene complex, EGFR and Notch signaling, and selector genes in these processes was considered. Analysis of published data allowed us to propose an integrated diagram of the system controlling macrochaetae development in D. melanogaster.     

Genetic Analysis of Delta, a Neurogenic Gene of Drosophila melanogaster

We report here the results of a genetic analysis of the gene Delta (Dl) of Drosophila melanogaster. Dl has been mapped to the band 92A2, on the basis of two pieces of evidence: (1) this band is the common breakpoint of several chromosomal aberrations associated with Dl mutations and (2) recombination mapping of alleles of five different lethal complementation groups that are uncovered by Df( 3R)Dl(FX3) (breakpoints at 91F11; 92A3). Dl was found to map most distally of all five complementation groups. The analysis of a large number of Dl alleles demonstrates the considerable genetic and functional complexity of Dl. Three types of Dl alleles are distinguishable. Most alleles behave as amorphic or hypomorphic recessive embryonic lethal alleles, which in addition cause various defects in heterozygosity over the wild-type allele. The defects are due to haplo-insufficient expression of the locus and can be suppressed by a duplication of the wild-type allele. The second class is comprised of three alleles with antimorphic expression. The phenotype of these alleles can only be reduced, rather than suppressed, by a duplication of the wild-type allele. The third group is comprised of three visible, predominantly hypomorphic alleles with an antimorphic component of phenotypic expression. The pattern of interallelic complementation is complex. On the one hand, there is a group of hypomorphic, fully penetrant embryonic lethal alleles which complement each other. On the other hand, most alleles, including all amorphic alleles, are viable over the visible ones; alleles of antimorphic expression, however, are lethal over visible alleles. These results are compatible with a rather complex genetic organization of the Dl locus.     

Genetic variation for preadult viability in Drosophila melanogaster

The extent of genetic variation in fitness and its components and genetic variation's dependence on environmental conditions remain key issues in evolutionary biology. We present measurements of genetic variation in preadult viability in a laboratory-adapted population of Drosophila melanogaster, made at four different densities. By crossing flies heterozygous for a wild-type chromosome and one of two different balancers (TM1, TM2), we measure both heterozygous (TM1/+, TM2/+) and homozygous (+/+) viability relative to a standard genotype (TM1/TM2). Forty wild-type chromosomes were tested, of which 10 were chosen to be homozygous viable. The mean numbers produced varied significantly between chromosome lines, with an estimated between-line variance in log(e) numbers of 0.013. Relative viabilities also varied significantly across chromosome lines, with a variance in log(e) homozygous viability of 1.76 and of log(e) heterozygous viability of 0.165. The between-line variance for numbers emerging increased with density, from 0.009 at lowest density to 0.079 at highest. The genetic variance in relative viability increases with density, but not significantly. Overall, the effects of different chromosomes on relative viability were remarkably consistent across densities and across the two heterozygous genotypes (TM1, TM2). The 10 lines that carried homozygous viable wild-type chromosomes produced significantly more adults than the 30 lethal lines at low density and significantly fewer adults at the highest density. Similarly, there was a positive correlation between heterozygous viability and mean numbers at low density, but a negative correlation at high density.     

Genetic variation affecting heart rate in Drosophila melanogaster

Heart rate in pre-pupae of Drosophila melanogaster is shown to vary over a wide range from 2.5 to 3.7 beats per second. Quantitative genetic analysis of a sample of 11 highly inbred lines indicates that approaching one-quarter of the total variance in natural populations can be attributed to genetic differences between flies. A hypomorphic allele of the potassium channel gene ether-a-gogo, which is homologous to a human long-QT syndrome susceptibility gene (HERG), has a heart rate at the low end of the wild-type range, but this effect can be suppressed in certain wild-type genetic backgrounds. This study provides a baseline for investigation of pharmacological and other physiological influences on heart rate in the model organism, and implies that quantitative genetic dissection will provide insight into the molecular basis for variation in normal and arrhythmic heart function.     

Genetic Variants Affecting Phenoloxidase Activity in Drosophila melanogaster

In Drosophila melanogaster, two new variants affecting the activity of phenoloxidase were found in natural populations at Gomel in Belorussia and at Krasnodar in Russia. Prophenoloxidases, A ₁ and A ₃ , in these variants had the same mobilities on native electrophoresis as the wild type. However, enzymatic activities in their activated states were much lower than in the wild type, whereas the existence of prophenoloxidase proteins was demonstrated. Egg-to-adult and relative viabilities in the variants did not decrease at temperatures between 18 and 29°C. Genetic analyses indicated that the genes showing the phenotype of variants are new alleles of Mox and Dox-3 on the second chromosome.     

Dietary Ethanol Mediates Selection on Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity in Drosophila melanogaster

Ethanol is an important environmental variable for fruit-breedingDrosophila species, serving as a resource at low levels anda toxin at high levels. The first step of ethanol metabolism,the conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde, is catalyzed primarilyby the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The second step,the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate, has been a sourceof controversy, with some authors arguing that it is carriedout primarily by ADH itself, rather than a separate aldehydedehydrogenase (ALDH) as in mammals. We review recent evidencethat ALDH plays an important role in ethanol metabolism in Drosophila.In support of this view, we report that D. melanogaster populationsmaintained on ethanol-supplemented media evolved higher activityof ALDH, as well as of ADH. We have also tentatively identifiedthe structural gene responsible for the majority of ALDH activityin D. melanogaster. We hypothesize that variation in ALDH activitymay make an important contribution to the observed wide variationin ethanol tolerance within and among Drosophila species.     

Genetic and molecular mechanisms of neurogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

Cells of the neurogenic ectoderm of insects have to decide between a neural and an epidermal fate. In Drosophila, this decision id mediated by cellular interactions. The products of two different groups of genes, i.e., the neurogenic genes and the genes of the achaete-scute complex and daughterless, seem to provide the molecular basis for the elements of a signal chain that permits the commitment of the cells to a given fate.