Genetic analysis of larval competition in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract Females of Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species D. simulans have very different cuticular hydrocarbons, with the former bearing predominantly 7,11-heptacosadiene and the latter 7-tricosene. This difference contributes to reproductive isolation between the species. Genetic analysis shows that this difference maps to only the third chromosome, with the other three chromosomes having no apparent effect. The D. simulans alleles on the left arm of chromosome 3 are largely recessive, allowing us to search for the relevant regions using D. melanogaster deficiencies. At least four nonoverlapping regions of this arm have large effects on the hydrocarbon profile, implying that several genes on this arm are responsible for the species difference. Because the right arm of chromosome 3 also affects the hydrocarbon profile, a minimum of five genes appear to be involved. The large effect of the third chromosome on hydrocarbons has also been reported in the hybridization between D. simulans and its closer relative D. sechellia, implying either an evolutionaly convergence or the retention in D. sechllia of an ancestral sexual dimorphism.

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Functional monopolar spindles caused by mutation in mgr, a cell division gene of Drosophila melanogaster

Journal of Cell Science ◽

10.1242/jcs.89.1.39 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 89 (1) ◽

pp. 39-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

C. Gonzalez ◽

J. Casal ◽

P. Ripoll

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Cell Division ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

Normal Chromosome ◽

Phenotypic Traits ◽

Polyploid Cells ◽

A Cell

Mutation in the gene merry-go-round (mgr) of Drosophila causes a variety of phenotypic traits in somatic and germinal tissues, such as polyploid cells, metaphasic arrest, postmeiotic cysts with 16 nuclei, and spermatids with four times the normal chromosome content. The most characteristic phenotype is the appearance of mitotic and meiotic figures where all chromosomes are arranged in a circle. Treatment with anti-mitotic drugs and the phenotype of double mutants mgr asp (asp being a mutation altering the spindle) show that these circular figures need a functional spindle for their formation. These abnormal figures are caused by monopolar spindles similar to those observed after different treatments in several organisms. All mutant traits indicate that mgr performs a function necessary for the correct behaviour of centrosomes, thus opening this organelle to genetic analysis.

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Genetic analysis of vitellogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster: the identification of a temperature-sensitive mutation affecting one of the yolk proteins

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.47.1.111 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 111-120

Author(s):

M. Bownes ◽

B. D. Hames

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

Gel Electrophoresis ◽

Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis ◽

Temperature Sensitive ◽

Large Reduction ◽

Yolk Proteins ◽

Protein Uptake ◽

Temperature Sensitive Mutation ◽

Transplant Experiments

A number of female sterile mutations on the first and third chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster have been screened for defects in the yolk proteins using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two new mutants were identified. 6m45 accumulates all three yolk proteins (YP1, YP2 and YP3) in the haemolymph but they are all absent from the ovaries suggesting it is a yolk-protein-uptake mutant. In contrast, 1163 is a temperature-sensitive mutation with a large reduction in the quantity of YP1 in the haemolymph and ovaries at 29 °C. Both mutants are autonomous in ovary transplant experiments.

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A developmental genetic analysis of the lysine demethylase KDM2 mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

Mechanisms of Development ◽

10.1016/j.mod.2014.06.003 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 133 ◽

pp. 36-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Yani Zheng ◽

Fu-Ning Hsu ◽

Wu Xu ◽

Xiao-Jun Xie ◽

Xinjie Ren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

Developmental Genetic ◽

Lysine Demethylase

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A genetic analysis of the alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase locus in Drosophila melanogaster.

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/120.3.755 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 120 (3) ◽

pp. 755-766

Author(s):

M B Davis ◽

R J MacIntyre

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

Structural Gene ◽

Mitochondrial Enzyme ◽

Synthetic Lethal ◽

Lethal Phenotype ◽

Cytoplasmic Enzyme ◽

Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase ◽

Null Mutants

Abstract The gene for alpha-glycerophosphate oxidase, the nuclear encoded mitochondrial enzyme of the alpha-glycerophosphate cycle (alpha GP); has been mapped in Drosophila melanogaster. Several interstitial deficiencies in region 50c-53AB of chromosome 2R were used to localize the structural gene to 52D2-5. In addition, mutations of alpha GPO were generated; alpha GPO mutants are viable yet flightless. Interactions of alpha GPO with alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha GPDH), the cytoplasmic enzyme of the alpha GP cycle, were investigated through the synthesis of a series of alpha GPDHnull-alpha GPOnull double mutants. Of the six double null mutants constructed, four alpha GPDH-alpha GPO double nulls are viable and flightless. Two double mutants, however, exhibit an allelic-dependent synthetic lethal phenotype.

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Quantitative Genetics of Drosophila Melanogaster. II. Heritabilities and Genetic Correlations between Sexes for Head and Thorax Traits.

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/119.2.421 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 119 (2) ◽

pp. 421-433

Author(s):

D E Cowley ◽

W R Atchley

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Genetic Analysis ◽

X Chromosome ◽

Dosage Compensation ◽

Imaginal Disc ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Body Parts ◽

Quantitative Genetic ◽

Males And Females

Abstract A quantitative genetic analysis is reported for traits on the head and thorax of adult fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. Females are larger than males, and the magnitude of sexual dimorphism is similar for traits derived from the same imaginal disc, but the level of sexual dimorphism varies widely across discs. The greatest difference between males and females occurs for the dimensions of the sclerotized mouthparts of the proboscis. Most of the traits studied are highly heritable with heritabilities ranging from 0.26 to 0.84 for males and 0.27 to 0.81 for females. In general, heritabilities are slightly higher for males, possibly reflecting the effect of dosage compensation on X-linked variance. The X chromosome contributes substantially to variance for many of these traits, and including results reported elsewhere, the variance for over two-thirds of the traits studied includes X-linked variance. The genetic correlations between sexes for the same trait are generally high and close to unity. Coupled with the small differences in the traits between sexes for heritabilities and phenotypic variances, these results suggest that selection would be very slow to change the level of sexual dimorphism in size of various body parts.

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