Gene Regulation and Species-Specific Evolution of Free Flight Odor Tracking in Drosophila

Abstract

The flying ability of insects has coevolved with the development of organs necessary to take-off from the ground, generate, and modulate lift during flight in complex environments. Flight orientation to the appropriate food source and mating partner depends on the perception and integration of multiple chemical signals. We used a wind tunnel-based assay to investigate the natural and molecular evolution of free flight odor tracking in Drosophila. First, the comparison of female and male flies of several populations and species revealed substantial sex-, inter-, and intra-specific variations for distinct flight features. In these flies, we compared the molecular structure of desat1, a fast-evolving gene involved in multiple aspects of Drosophila pheromonal communication. We manipulated desat1 regulation and found that both neural and nonneural tissues affect distinct flight features. Together, our data suggest that desat1 is one of the genes involved in the evolution of free-flight odor tracking behaviors in Drosophila.

Keywords

D. suzukii; D. buzzatii; D. virilis; Zimbabwe; oenocyte; fat body; sexual dimorphism

Published in

Molecular Biology and Evolution
2018, Volume: 35, number: 1, pages: 3-15

SLU Authors

• Houot, Benjamin

  • Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Burgundy

UKÄ Subject classification

Genetics
Behavioral Sciences Biology
Evolutionary Biology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msx241

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/90729