The evolution of courtship behaviors through the origination of a new gene in Drosophila.

Full Abstract

New genes can originate by the combination of sequences from unrelated genes or their duplicates to form a chimeric structure. These chimeric genes often evolve rapidly, suggesting that they undergo adaptive evolution and may therefore be involved in novel phenotypes. Their functions, however, are rarely known. Here, we describe the phenotypic effects of a chimeric gene, sphinx, that has recently evolved in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that a knockout of this gene leads to increased male-male courtship in D. melanogaster, although it leaves other aspects of mating behavior unchanged. Comparative studies of courtship behavior in other closely related Drosophila species suggest that this mutant phenotype of male-male courtship is the ancestral condition because these related species show much higher levels of male-male courtship than D. melanogaster. D. melanogaster therefore seems to have evolved in its courtship behaviors by the recruitment of a new chimeric gene.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Dai, Hongzheng (H); Chen, Ying (Y); Chen, Sidi (S); Mao, Qiyan (Q); Kennedy, David (D); Landback, Patrick (P); Eyre-Walker, Adam (A); Du, Wei (W); Long, Manyuan (M);

Affiliation: Committee on Genetics, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

Grants: R01GM065429-01A1 (Agency:United States NIGMS) ; R01GM074197 (Agency:United States NIGMS) ; R01GM078070-01A1 (Agency:United States NIGMS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 105 (issue 21) : pp 7478-83

Dates: Created 2008/05/29; Completed 2008/06/16;

PMID: 18508971, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Courtship
Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; physiology
Evolution
Genes, Insect - physiology
Male

Associated Chemicals: RNA, Antisense (0)

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.