Ectopic activation of Dpp signalling in the male Drosophila germline inhibits germ cell differentiation

The mechanisms that control differentiation of stem cells to specialised cell types probably include factors intrinsic to stem cells as well as extrinsic factors produced by the microenvironment of the stem cell niche. The Drosophila male germline is renewed from a population of stem cells located in the apical tip of the adult testis. The morphological relationship between germline stem cells and their surrounding somatic cells is well understood but the factors that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation are still being uncovered. This study examined the effect of stimulating Dpp signalling directly in male germ cells. Ectopic Dpp or Activin signalling resulted in overproliferation of both stem cell-like and spermatogonial-like cells in the apical region of the testis. A third cell population that expressed stem cell markers was seen to proliferate in the distal testis when Dpp signalling was either stimulated or repressed in germline stem cells.     

Tracking the origin of the American colonization by Drosophila subobscura: genetic comparison between Eastern and Western Mediterranean populations

Several pieces of evidence indicate a Mediterranean origin of the colonization of America by Drosophila subobscura . To ascertain whether the origin was from the Eastern or the Western Mediterranean region, samples from Barcelona (Spain) and Mt Parnes (Greece) were collected and O chromosomal inversion polymorphism and lethal genes were analysed. The frequencies of lethal chromosomes were 0.244 ± 0.039 in Barcelona and 0.336 ± 0.043 in Mt Parnes, consistent with the expectations for large populations located in the central area of the species distribution. Lethal genes seem to be distributed at random along the O chromosome in both populations. The intra-populational allelism frequencies of Barcelona and Mt Parnes were 0.016 ± 0.007 and 0.012 ± 0.005 respectively. Thus, the estimates of the effective population size were high in both populations (between 6964 and 13 004 in Barcelona and 11 874 to 26 828 in Mt Parnes). The cases of allelism in Mt Parnes were observed only between individual lethal genes, but in Barcelona some concatenated clusters of allelism were detected. This pattern of allelism can be explained by synthetic lethality, hybrid dysgenesis, the induction of recurrent lethal mutations by different factors or an effect of microdifferentiation in subpopulations. In both populations, a reduction in fitness in the heterozygotes for lethal genes has been detected. Furthermore, the estimates of the migration coefficient (between 0.0085 and 0.0120 in Barcelona, and 0.0057 and 0.0087 in Mt Parnes) confirm the existence of gene flow between Palearctic populations of D. subobscura . Our lethal genes and chromosomal inversion results are consistent with a Mediterranean origin of the colonization of America by D. subobscura , but are inconclusive with regard to the identification of the population from which these colonizers came.     

共生表皮葡萄球菌促进果蝇胚后发育

【背景】动物体定殖有多种共生微生物,这些共生微生物严重影响着宿主生理和病理,日益成为研究热点之一。【目的】分离与鉴定黑腹果蝇共生菌,探究表皮葡萄球菌对黑腹果蝇的发育影响和潜在作用机制。【方法】用CEM培养基(Carotenoid expression medium)从果蝇肠道内分离细菌,通过16SrRNA基因序列比对鉴定菌株;以发育时间和幼虫表面积检测果蝇的发育时期和生长速率;利用实时定量PCR检测果蝇促前胸腺激素与胰岛素通路的激活。【结果】从果蝇体内分离到的菌株为表皮葡萄球菌,该菌可以有效定殖于果蝇的肠道。表皮葡萄球菌通过提高果蝇生长速率而显著促进其发育。在分子水平上,表皮葡萄球菌激活PTTH和胰岛素信号以刺激宿主的生长发育。【结论】表皮葡萄球菌是果蝇的一种共生菌,可以通过调控PTTH和胰岛素信号而刺激果蝇生长发育。     

A novel simple satellite DNA is colocalized with the Stalker retrotransposon in Drosophila melanogaster heterochromatin

In the T(1;2)dor ^var7 multibreak rearrangement the distal 1A-2B segment of the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster is juxtaposed to an inverted portion of the heterochromatin of chromosome 2. Analysis of mitotic chromosomes by a series of banding techniques has permitted us precisely to locate the heterochromatic breakpoint of this translocation in the h42 region of 2R. Cloning and sequencing of the eu-heterochromatic junction revealed that the translocated 1A-2B fragment is joined to (AACAC)_n repeats, which represent a previously undescribed satellite DNA in D. melanogaster. These repeated sequences have been estimated to account for about 1 Mb of the D. melanogaster genome. The repeats are located mainly in the Y chromosome and in the heterochromatin of the right arm of chromosome 2 (2Rh), where they are colocalized with the Stalker retrotransposon. Received: 3 October 1998 / Accepted: 3 December 1998     

Influence of female age, sperm senescence and multiple mating on sperm viability in female Drosophila melanogaster

Sperm viability has been associated with the degree of promiscuity across species, as well as the degree of reproductive success within species. Thus, sperm survival within the female reproductive tract likely plays a key role in how mating systems evolve. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, however, the extent and cause of sperm death has been the subject of recent debate. Here, we assess sperm death within the female reproductive tract of D. melanogaster following single and multiple matings in order to elucidate the extent of death and its potential mechanisms, including an acute female response to mating, female age and/or sperm senescence. We found no evidence that sperm viability was influenced by an acute female response or female age. We also found that rival ejaculates did not influence viability, supporting recent work in the system. Instead, the majority of death appears to be due to the aging of male gametes within the female, and that at least some dead resident sperm remain in the female after multiple mating. In contrast to earlier in vivo work, we found that overall sperm death was minimal (8.7%), indicating viability should have a negligible influence on female remating rates.     

以黑腹果蝇为寄主的蝇蛹金小蜂生长发育、繁殖及功能反应研究

蝇蛹金小蜂是铃木氏果蝇和黑腹果蝇的重要天敌,本研究以黑腹果蝇为寄主,测定了蝇蛹金小蜂云南种群的生长发育、繁殖及寿命。并在6个寄主密度梯度条件下研究了其寄生功能反应。结果显示蝇蛹金小蜂从卵到雌、雄成蜂的平均发育历期分别为16.10 d和14.67 d,雌蜂平均寿命为49.76 d,平均产子代数为93.28头/雌,子代雌性比为55.76%。在黑腹果蝇蛹为5、10、15、20、25和30头的密度梯度下,蝇蛹金小蜂的寄生功能反应符合Holling Ⅱ模型,其方程为Na=0.6261 No/(1+0.0632 No)。理论最高寄生量为N_a_(max)=9.0171,实际最高寄生量为7.00头(寄主密度为20头),蝇蛹金小蜂的寄生搜寻效应随寄主密度的增加而降低。综上结果,采自杨梅的蝇蛹金小蜂以黑腹果蝇作为寄主时具有较高繁殖力,较强的寄主适合度,是铃木氏果蝇和黑腹果蝇有效的生物防治作用因子。     

Mitochondrial DNA effects on fitness in Drosophila subobscura

We tested different fitness components on a series of conspecific mtDNA haplotypes, detected by RFLPs in Drosophila subobscura. Additionally, haplotype VIII, endemic to the Canary Islands, was tested upon its own native nuclear DNA background and upon that of the rest of mtDNAs tested herein. We found that both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA can have a significant effect upon their hosts' fitness, and that negative selection is one of the mechanisms that can intervene in this species' mtDNA haplotype pattern. We discuss the importance of this mechanism in relation to genetic drift, in the form of periodic population bottlenecks, and how the latter can enhance the former. We also detected a significant positive effect of haplotype VIII upon fitness that could explain in part the dominance of this endemic haplotype on some of the Canary Islands, and a mitochondrial heterosis involving this haplotype when on a foreign nuclear DNA background.     

Kinetics of doubletime kinase-dependent degradation of the Drosophila period protein

Robust circadian oscillations of the proteins PERIOD (PER) and TIMELESS (TIM) are hallmarks of a functional clock in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Early morning phosphorylation of PER by the kinase Doubletime (DBT) and subsequent PER turnover is an essential step in the functioning of the Drosophila circadian clock. Here using time-lapse fluorescence microscopy we study PER stability in the presence of DBT and its short, long, arrhythmic, and inactive mutants in S2 cells. We observe robust PER degradation in a DBT allele-specific manner. With the exception of doubletime-short (DBT(S)), all mutants produce differential PER degradation profiles that show direct correspondence with their respective Drosophila behavioral phenotypes. The kinetics of PER degradation with DBT(S) in cell culture resembles that with wild-type DBT and posits that, in flies DBT(S) likely does not modulate the clock by simply affecting PER degradation kinetics. For all the other tested DBT alleles, the study provides a simple model in which the changes in Drosophila behavioral rhythms can be explained solely by changes in the rate of PER degradation.