GEPHE SUMMARY Print
Gephebase Gene
Entry Status
Published
GepheID
GP00000661
Main curator
Martin
PHENOTYPIC CHANGE
Trait Category
Trait State in Taxon A
Drosophila melanogaster
Trait State in Taxon B
Drosophila melanogaster
Ancestral State
Data not curated
Taxonomic Status
Taxon A
Common Name
fruit fly
Synonyms
Sophophora melanogaster; fruit fly; Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830; Sophophora melanogaster (Meigen, 1830); Drosophila melangaster
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ... Brachycera; Muscomorpha; Eremoneura; Cyclorrhapha; Schizophora; Acalyptratae; Ephydroidea; Drosophilidae; Drosophilinae; Drosophilini; Drosophila; Sophophora; melanogaster group; melanogaster subgroup
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon A an Infraspecies?
No
Taxon B
Common Name
fruit fly
Synonyms
Sophophora melanogaster; fruit fly; Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830; Sophophora melanogaster (Meigen, 1830); Drosophila melangaster
Rank
species
Lineage
Show more ... Brachycera; Muscomorpha; Eremoneura; Cyclorrhapha; Schizophora; Acalyptratae; Ephydroidea; Drosophilidae; Drosophilinae; Drosophilini; Drosophila; Sophophora; melanogaster group; melanogaster subgroup
NCBI Taxonomy ID
is Taxon B an Infraspecies?
No
GENOTYPIC CHANGE
Generic Gene Name
-
Synonyms
-
String
-
Sequence Similarities
-
GO - Molecular Function
-
GO - Biological Process
-
GO - Cellular Component
-
UniProtKB
GenebankID or UniProtKB
Presumptive Null
Molecular Type
Aberration Type
Molecular Details of the Mutation
Not identified
Experimental Evidence
Authors
Arif S; Murat S; Almudi I; Nunes MD; Bortolamiol-Becet D; McGregor NS; Currie JM; Hughes H; et al. ... show more
Abstract
Identifying the genetic mechanisms underlying phenotypic change is essential to understanding how gene regulatory networks and ultimately the genotype-to-phenotype map evolve. It is recognized that microRNAs (miRNAs) have the potential to facilitate evolutionary change [1-3]; however, there are no known examples of natural morphological variation caused by evolutionary changes in miRNA expression. Therefore, the contribution of miRNAs to evolutionary change remains unknown [1, 4]. Drosophila melanogaster subgroup species display a portion of trichome-free cuticle on the femur of the second leg called the "naked valley." It was previously shown that Ultrabithorax (Ubx) is involved in naked valley variation between D. melanogaster and D. simulans [5, 6]. However, naked valley size also varies among populations of D. melanogaster, ranging from 1,000 up to 30,000 μm(2). We investigated the genetic basis of intraspecific differences in the naked valley in D. melanogaster and found that neither Ubx nor shavenbaby (svb) [7, 8] contributes to this morphological difference. Instead, we show that changes in mir-92a expression underlie the evolution of naked valley size in D. melanogaster through repression of shavenoid (sha) [9]. Therefore, our results reveal a novel mechanism for morphological evolution and suggest that modulation of the expression of miRNAs potentially plays a prominent role in generating organismal diversity.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Additional References
RELATED GEPHE
Related Genes
Related Haplotypes
No matches found.
EXTERNAL LINKS
COMMENTS
YOUR FEEDBACK is welcome!