Genetics Commons^™

Drosophila Eye Model To Study Neuroprotective Role Of Creb Binding Protein (Cbp) In Alzheimer’S Disease, Timothy Cutler, Ankita Sarkar, Michael Moran, Andrew Steffensmeier, Oorvashi Roy Puli, Greg Mancini, Meghana Tare

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: The progressive neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer’s disease (AD) manifests as loss of cognitive functions, and finally leads to death of the affected individual. AD may result from accumulation of amyloid plaques. These amyloid plaques comprising of amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42) polypeptides results from the improper cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the brain. The Aβ42 plaques have been shown to disrupt the normal cellular processes and thereby trigger abnormal signaling which results in the death of neurons. However, the molecular-genetic mechanism(s) responsible for Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration is yet to be fully understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We have utilized Gal4/UAS system to …

The Cababc Operon Essential For Biofilm And Rugose Colony Development In Vibrio Vulnificus, Jin Hwan Park, Youmi Jo, Song Yee Jang, Haenaem Kwon, Yasuhiko Irie, Matthew R. Parsek, Myung Hee Kim, Sang Ho Choi

Biology Faculty Publications

A transcriptome analysis identified Vibrio vulnificus cabABC genes which were preferentially expressed in biofilms. The cabABC genes were transcribed as a single operon. The cabA gene was induced by elevated 3′,5′-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) and encoded a calcium-binding protein CabA. Comparison of the biofilms produced by the cabA mutant and its parent strain JN111 in microtiter plates using crystal-violet staining demonstrated that CabA contributed to biofilm formation in a calcium-dependent manner under elevated c-di-GMP conditions. Genetic and biochemical analyses revealed that CabA was secreted to the cell exterior through functional CabB and CabC, distributed throughout the biofilm matrix, and produced …

Beyond Bivariate Correlations: Three-Block Partial Least Squares Illustrated With Vegetation, Soil, And Topography, Daehyun Kim, Thomas J. Dewitt, César S. B. Costa, John A. Kupfer, Ryan W. Mcewan, J. Anthony Stallins

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecologists, particularly those engaged in biogeomorphic studies, often seek to connect data from three or more domains. Using three-block partial least squares regression, we present a procedure to quantify and define bi-variance and tri-variance of data blocks related to plant communities, their soil parameters, and topography. Bi-variance indicates the total amount of covariation between these three domains taken in pairs, whereas tri-variance refers to the common variance shared by all domains. We characterized relationships among three domains (plant communities, soil properties, topography) for a salt marsh, four coastal dunes, and two temperate forests spanning several regions in the world. We …

Mutations That Separate The Functions Of The Proofreading Subunit Of The Escherichia Coli Replicase, Zakiya Whatley, Kenneth N. Kreuzer

Biology Faculty Publications

The dnaQ gene of Escherichia coli encodes the Ɛ subunit of DNA polymerase III, which provides the 3' - 5' exonuclease proofreading activity of the replicative polymerase. Prior studies have shown that loss of Ɛ leads to high mutation frequency, partially constitutive SOS, and poor growth. In addition, a previous study from our laboratory identified dnaQ knockout mutants in a screen for mutants specifically defective in the SOS response after quinolone (nalidixic acid) treatment. To explain these results, we propose a model whereby, in addition to proofreading, Ɛ plays a distinct role in replisome disassembly and/or processing of stalled replication …

Genetic Changes To A Transcriptional Silencer Element Confers Phenotypic Diversity Within And Between Drosophila Species, Winslow C. Johnson, Alison J. Ordway, Masayoshi Watada, Jonathan N. Pruitt, Thomas M. Williams, Mark Rebeiz

Biology Faculty Publications

The modification of transcriptional regulation has become increasingly appreciated as a major contributor to morphological evolution. However, the role of negative-acting control elements (e.g. silencers) in generating morphological diversity has been generally overlooked relative to positive-acting “enhancer” elements. The highly variable body coloration patterns among Drosophilid insects represents a powerful model system in which the molecular alterations that underlie phenotypic diversity can be defined. In a survey of pigment phenotypes among geographically disparate Japanese populations of Drosophila auraria, we discovered a remarkable degree of variation in male-specific abdominal coloration. In testing the expression patterns of the major pigment-producing enzymes, …

The Hippo Pathway Effector Yki Downregulates Wg Signaling To Promote Retinal Differentiation In The Drosophila Eye, Erika Lynn Wittkorn, Ankita Sarkar, Kristine Garcia, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

The evolutionarily conserved Hippo signaling pathway is known to regulate cell proliferation and maintain tissue homeostasis during development. We found that activation of Yorkie (Yki), the effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, causes separable effects on growth and differentiation of theDrosophila eye. We present evidence supporting a role for Yki in suppressing eye fate by downregulation of the core retinal determination genes. Other upstream regulators of the Hippo pathway mediate this effect of Yki on retinal differentiation. Here, we show that, in the developing eye, Yki can prevent retinal differentiation by blocking morphogenetic furrow (MF) progression and R8 specification. …

The Evolutionary Origination And Diversification Of A Dimorphic Gene Regulatory Network Through Parallel Innovations In Cis And Trans, Eric M. Camino, John C. Butts, Alison J. Ordway, Jordan E. Vellky, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas M. Williams

Biology Faculty Publications

The origination and diversification of morphological characteristics represents a key problem in understanding the evolution of development. Morphological traits result from gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that form a web of transcription factors, which regulate multiple cis-regulatory element (CRE) sequences to control the coordinated expression of differentiation genes. The formation and modification of GRNs must ultimately be understood at the level of individual regulatory linkages (i.e., transcription factor binding sites within CREs) that constitute the network. Here, we investigate how elements within a network originated and diversified to generate a broad range of abdominal pigmentation phenotypes among Sophophora fruit flies. …

Cell Type-Specific Responses To Wingless, Hedgehog And Decapentaplegic Are Essential For Patterning Early Eye-Antenna Disc In Drosophila, Jong-Hoon Won, Orkhon Tsogtbartarr, Wonseok Son, Amit Singh, Kwang-Wook Choi, Kyung-Ok Cho

Biology Faculty Publications

The Drosophila eye-antenna imaginal disc (ead) is a flattened sac of two-layered epithelia, from which most head structures are derived. Secreted morphogens like Wingless (Wg), Hedgehog (Hh), and Decapentaplegic (Dpp) are important for early patterning of ead, but the underlying mechanisms are still largely unknown. To understand how these morphogens function in the ead of early larval stages, we used wg-LacZ and dpp-Gal4 markers for the examination of wild-type and mutant eads. We found that the ead immediately after hatching was crescent-shaped with the Bolwig’s nerve at the ventral edge, suggesting that it consists of dorsal domain. In a subsequent …

Intercellular Cooperation And Competition In Brain Cancers: Lessons From Drosophila And Human Studies, Indrayani Waghmare, Austin Roebke, Mutsuko Minata, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Ichiro Nakano

Biology Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary brain cancer with an extremely poor prognosis. GBM tumors contain heterogeneous cellular components, including a small subpopulation of tumor cells termed glioma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs are characterized as chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-resistant cells with prominent tumorigenic ability. Studies in Drosophila cancer models demonstrated that interclonal cooperation and signaling from apoptotic clones provokes aggressive growth of neighboring tumorigenic clones, via compensatory proliferation or apoptosis induced proliferation. Mechanistically, these aggressive tumors depend on activation of Jun-N-terminal kinase (upstream of c-JUN), and Drosophila Wnt (Wg) in the apoptotic clones. Consistent with these nonmammalian studies, data from several mammalian …

Multiplex Ssr-Pcr Analysis Of Genetic Diversity And Redundancy In The Philippine Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Germplasm Collection, Jamaica L. Delos Reyes, Vivian A. Panes, Dindo A. Tabanao, Gabriel O. Romero

Biology Faculty Publications

Rice germplasm conservation is vital to ensuring the availability of a rich gene pool for future varietal improvement programs. However, with limited resources for gene banking, there is a need to identify and prioritize unique accessions in the PhilRice gene bank for maximum resource utilization. A robust and unequivocal way to identify duplicates is through multiplex SSR-PCR DNA fingerprinting. The present study established the optimal concentrations and reaction conditions for the successful amplification of PCR products using a multiplex panel composed of rice simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, namely RM312, RM316, RM514 and RM171. The panel was then used to …

Chip-Seq And Rna-Seq Reveal An Amrz-Mediated Mechanism For Cyclic Di-Gmp Synthesis And Biofilm Development By Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Christopher J. Jones, David Newsom, Benjamin Kelly, Yasuhiko Irie, Laura K. Jennings, Binjie Xu, Dominique H. Limoli, Joe J. Harrison, Matthew R. Parsek, Peter White, Daniel J. Wozniak

Biology Faculty Publications

The transcription factor AmrZ regulates genes important for P. aeruginosa virulence, including type IV pili, extracellular polysaccharides, and the flagellum; however, the global effect of AmrZ on gene expression remains unknown, and therefore, AmrZ may directly regulate many additional genes that are crucial for infection. Compared to the wild type strain, a ΔamrZ mutant exhibits a rugose colony phenotype, which is commonly observed in variants that accumulate the intracellular second messenger cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP). Cyclic di-GMP is produced by diguanylate cyclases (DGC) and degraded by phosphodiesterases (PDE). We hypothesized that AmrZ limits the intracellular accumulation of c-di-GMP through transcriptional repression …

Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing In The College Classroom: Knowledge, Attitudes, And Concerns Of Introductory Biology Students, Nicanor Austriaco

Biology Faculty Publications

Pioneered by companies like 23andMe.com, deCODEme.com, and Navigenics.com, direct-to-consumer genetic testing refers to genetic tests that are marketed directly to consumers via television, print media, or the Internet. This kind of testing provides access to a customer’s genetic information without necessarily involving either a medical health care professional or a genetic counselor in the process. In recent years, a course offered to medical and graduate students at Stanford University has included an option for students to undergo personal genotyping, raising the possibility that direct-to-consumer genetic testing could also be incorporated into undergraduate biology courses to enhance student learning. In this …

Deletion Of Aif1 But Not Of Yca1/Mca1 Protects Saccharomyces Cerevisiae And Candida Albicans Cells From Caspofungin-Induced Programmed Cell Death, Nicanor Austriaco, Christopher Chin, Faith Donaghey, Kathrine Helming, Morgan Mccarthy, Stephen Rogers

Biology Faculty Publications

Caspofungin was the first member of a new class of antifungals called echinocandins to be approved by a drug regulatory authority. Like the other echinocandins, caspofungin blocks the synthesis of β(1,3)-D-glucan of the fungal cell wall by inhibiting the enzyme, β(1,3)-D-glucan synthase. Loss of β(1,3)-D-glucan leads to osmotic instability and cell death. However, the precise mechanism of cell death associated with the cytotoxicity of caspofungin was unclear. We now provide evidence that Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells cultured in media containing caspofungin manifest the classical hallmarks of programmed cell death (PCD) in yeast, including the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the …

Novel Neuroprotective Function Of Apical-Basal Polarity Genecrumbs In Amyloid Beta 42 (Aβ42) Mediated Neurodegeneration, Andrew Steffensmeier, Meghana Tare, Oorvashi Roy Puli, Rohan Modi, Jaison Nainaparampil, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD, OMIM: 104300), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no cure to date, is caused by the generation of amyloid-beta-42 (Aβ42) aggregates that trigger neuronal cell death by unknown mechanism(s). We have developed a transgenic Drosophilaeye model where misexpression of human Aβ42 results in AD-like neuropathology in the neural retina. We have identified an apical-basal polarity gene crumbs (crb) as a genetic modifier of Aβ42-mediated-neuropathology. Misexpression of Aβ42 caused upregulation of Crb expression, whereas downregulation of Crb either by RNAi or null allele approach rescued the Aβ42-mediated-neurodegeneration. Co-expression of full length Crb with Aβ42 increased severity of Aβ42-mediated-neurodegeneration, …

Homeotic Gene Teashirt (Tsh) Has A Neuroprotective Function In Amyloid-Beta 42 Mediated Neurodegeneration, Michael T. Moran, Meghana Tare, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating age related progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of cognition, and eventual death of the affected individual. One of the major causes of AD is the accumulation of Amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42) polypeptides formed by the improper cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the brain. These plaques disrupt normal cellular processes through oxidative stress and aberrant signaling resulting in the loss of synaptic activity and death of the neurons. However, the detailed genetic mechanism(s) responsible for this neurodegeneration still remain elusive.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We have generated a transgenic Drosophila eye model where …

Recurrent Modification Of A Conserved Cis-Regulatory Element Underlies Fruit Fly Pigmentation Diversity, William A. Rogers, Joseph R. Salomone, David J. Tacy, Eric M. Camino, Kristen A. Davis, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas M. Williams

Biology Faculty Publications

The development of morphological traits occurs through the collective action of networks of genes connected at the level of gene expression. As any node in a network may be a target of evolutionary change, the recurrent targeting of the same node would indicate that the path of evolution is biased for the relevant trait and network. Although examples of parallel evolution have implicated recurrent modification of the same gene and cis-regulatory element (CRE), little is known about the mutational and molecular paths of parallel CRE evolution. InDrosophila melanogaster fruit flies, the Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors control the development …

Scribble Acts In The Drosophila Fat-Hippo Pathway To Regulate Warts Activity, Shilpi Verghese, Indrayani Waghmare, Hailey Kwon, Katelin Hanes, Madhuri Kango-Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Epithelial cells are the major cell-type for all organs in multicellular organisms. In order to achieve correct organ size, epithelial tissues need mechanisms that limit their proliferation, and protect tissues from damage caused by defective epithelial cells. Recently, the Hippo signaling pathway has emerged as a major mechanism that orchestrates epithelial development. Hippo signaling is required for cells to stop proliferation as in the absence of Hippo signaling tissues continue to proliferate and produce overgrown organs or tumors. Studies in Drosophila have led the way in providing a framework for how Hippo alters the pattern of gene transcription in target …

Fluorescence-Based Reporter For Gauging Cyclic Di-Gmp Levels In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Morten T. Rybtke, Bradley R. Borlee, Keiji Murakami, Yasuhiko Irie, Morten Hentzer, Thomas E. Nielsen, Michael Givskov, Matthew R. Parsek, Tim Tolker-Nielsen

Biology Faculty Publications

The increased tolerance toward the host immune system and antibiotics displayed by biofilm-forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other bacteria in chronic infections such as cystic fibrosis bronchopneumonia is of major concern. Targeting of biofilm formation is believed to be a key aspect in the development of novel antipathogenic drugs that can augment the effect of classic antibiotics by decreasing antimicrobial tolerance. The second messenger cyclic di-GMP is a positive regulator of biofilm formation, and cyclic di-GMP signaling is now regarded as a potential target for the development of antipathogenic compounds. Here we describe the development of fluorescent monitors that can gauge …

Neurodegeneration - A Means To An End, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Cell death, a global phenomenon found throughout the animal kingdom, is a mechanism to maintain tissue homeostasis and for adaptation to changes in the environment [1,2]. Millions of cells die in our body daily- they succumb to stress and commit suicide by a mechanism referred to as cell death or apoptosis [2-4]. Under normal conditions cells are continuously replaced by new cells from the stemor progenitor- cells. For example, an optimum balance in shedding of dead cells from the skin and their replenishment by new ones maintain our health and hygiene. In this context, apoptosis is a mechanism to eliminate …

Tumor Suppression By Cell Competition Through Regulation Of The Hippo Pathway, Chiao-Lin Chen, Molly C. Schroeder, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Chunyao Tao, Georg Halder

Biology Faculty Publications

Homeostatic mechanisms can eliminate abnormal cells to prevent diseases such as cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of this surveillance are poorly understood. Here we investigated how clones of cells mutant for the neoplastic tumor suppressor gene scribble (scrib) are eliminated from Drosophila imaginal discs. When all cells in imaginal discs are mutant for scrib, they hyperactivate the Hippo pathway effector Yorkie (Yki), which drives growth of the discs into large neoplastic masses. Strikingly, when discs also contain normal cells, the scrib− cells do not overproliferate and eventually undergo apoptosis through JNK-dependent mechanisms. However, induction of apoptosis does …

Protein Trap Lines Of Drosophila To Demonstrate Spatio-Temporal Localization Of Proteins In An Undergraduate Lab, Oorvashi Roy Puli, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

The objective of this teaching note is to generate a laboratory exercise, which allows students to get a hands-on experience of a cell biology technique. The short duration of the laboratory classes is the biggest challenge with the development of a cell biology lab for an undergraduate curriculum. Therefore, it is necessary to design a laboratory exercise that enables the students to carry out cell biological assays in the desired time. This laboratory exercise focuses on tracking protein expression levels along a spatial (space) and temporal (time) axis in developing Drosophila melanogaster organ primordium. Here we use the protein trap …

Quantitative Comparison Of Cis-Regulatory Element (Cre) Activities In Transgenic Drosophila Melanogaster, William A. Rogers, Thomas M. Williams

Biology Faculty Publications

Gene expression patterns are specified by cis-regulatory element (CRE) sequences, which are also called enhancers or cis-regulatory modules. A typical CRE possesses an arrangement of binding sites for several transcription factor proteins that confer a regulatory logic specifying when, where, and at what level the regulated gene(s) is expressed. The full set of CREs within an animal genome encodes the organism′s program for development¹, and empirical as well as theoretical studies indicate that mutations in CREs played a prominent role in morphological evolution^2-4. Moreover, human genome wide association studies indicate that genetic variation in CREs …

Activation Of Jnk Signaling Mediates Amyloid-Ss- Dependent Cell Death, Meghana Tare, Rohan Modi, Jaison Nainaparampil, Oorvashi Roy Puli, Shimpi Bedi, Pedro Fernandez-Funez, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age related progressive neurodegenerative disorder. One of the reasons for Alzheimer's neuropathology is the generation of large aggregates of Aß42 that are toxic in nature and induce oxidative stress, aberrant signaling and many other cellular alterations that trigger neuronal cell death. However, the exact mechanisms leading to cell death are not clearly understood.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We employed a Drosophila eye model of AD to study how Aß42 causes cell death. Misexpression of higher levels of Aß42 in the differentiating photoreceptors of fly retina rapidly induced aberrant cellular phenotypes and cell death. We found that …

Mechanical Test Methods For Assessing Porcine Carotid And Uterine Artery Burst Pressure Following Ex Vivo Ultrasonic Ligature Seal And Transection, Carissa M. Krane, Margaret Pinnell, Courtney Gardner, Mercedes Thompson, James Coleman, Robert Wilkens

Biology Faculty Publications

A test method was developed to identify those variables important for assessing the performance of ultrasonic surgical devices in ex vivo ligature sealing of porcine carotid and uterine arteries. Ruggedness testing using a small sample size in pilot experiments was conducted using a newly developed test method in an effort to assess the usefulness of this methodology and to identify test variables that might warrant further testing. The development of this test method included the use of a custom-designed prototypic tension device for load-controlled ex vivo vessel stretching during saline perfusion and subsequent seal and transection of porcine arteries with …

Design Of A Factorial Experiment With Randomization Restrictions To Assess Medical Device Performance On Vascular Tissue, Wiebke Diestelkamp, Carissa M. Krane, Margaret Pinnell

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo.

Methods: The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the …

Endo-Porter–Mediated Delivery Of Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligos (Pmos) In Erythrocyte Suspension Cultures From Cope's Gray Treefrog Hyla Chrysoscelis, Venkateshwar Mutyam, Matthew V. Puccetti, James Frisbie, David L. Goldstein, Carissa M. Krane

Biology Faculty Publications

Cope's gray treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, is a freeze-tolerant anuran that accumulates cryoprotective glycerol during cold acclimation. H. chrysoscelis erythrocytes express the aquaglyceroporin HC-3, which facilitates transmembrane glycerol and water movement. Aquaglyceroporins have no pharmacological inhibitors, and no genetic knockout tools currently exist for H. chrysoscelis. A phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligo (PMO)–mediated expression knockdown approach was therefore pursued to provide a model for testing the role of HC-3. We describe a novel procedure optimized for specific, efficient knockdown of HC-3 expression in amphibian erythrocyte suspensions cultured at nonmammalian physiological temperatures using Endo-Porter. Our protocol includes three critical components: pre-incubation at 37°C, …

Linear Methods For Analysis And Quality Control Of Relative Expression Ratios From Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Experiments, Robert B. Page, Arnold J. Stromberg

Biology Faculty Publications

Relative expression quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) experiments are a common means of estimating transcript abundances across biological groups and experimental treatments. One of the most frequently used expression measures that results from such experiments is the relative expression ratio (R_E), which describes expression in experimental samples (i.e., RNA isolated from organisms, tissues, and/or cells that were exposed to one or more experimental or nonbaseline condition) in terms of fold change relative to calibrator samples (i.e., RNA isolated from organisms, tissues, and/or cells that were exposed to a control or baseline condition). Over the past decade, several …

Dorsal Eye Selector Pannier (Pnr) Suppresses The Eye Fate To Define Dorsal Margin Of The Drosophila Eye, Sarah M. Oros, Meghana Tare, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

Axial patterning is crucial for organogenesis. During Drosophila eye development, dorso-ventral (DV) axis determination is the first lineage restriction event. The eye primordium begins with a default ventral fate, on which the dorsal eye fate is established by expression of the GATA-1 transcription factor pannier (pnr). Earlier, it was suggested that loss of pnr function induces enlargement in the dorsal eye due to ectopic equator formation. Interestingly, we found that in addition to regulating DV patterning, pnr suppresses the eye fate by downregulating the core retinal determination genes eyes absent (eya), sine oculis (so) and dacshund (dac) to define the …

Drosophila Adult Eye Model To Teach Scanning Electron Microscopy In An Undergraduate Cell Biology Laboratory, Meghana Tare, Oorvashi Roy Puli, Sarah M. Oros, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

We have devised an undergraduate laboratory exercise to study tissue morphology using fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as the model organism. Drosophila can be reared in a cost effective manner in a short period of time. This experiment was a part of the undergraduate curriculum of the cell biology laboratory course aimed to demonstrate the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique to study the morphology of adult eye of Drosophila. The adult eye of Drosophila is a compound eye, which comprises of 800 unit eyes, and serves as an excellent model for SEM studies. We used flies that …

Rapid Evolution Of Sex-Pheromone-Producing Enzyme In Drosophila, Troy R. Shirangi, Héloïse D. Dufour, Thomas M. Williams, Sean B. Carroll

Biology Faculty Publications

A wide range of organisms use sex pheromones to communicate with each other and to identify appropriate mating partners. While the evolution of chemical communication has been suggested to cause sexual isolation and speciation, the mechanisms that govern evolutionary transitions in sex pheromone production are poorly understood. Here, we decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the rapid evolution in the expression of a gene involved in sex pheromone production in Drosophilid flies. Long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (e.g., dienes) are produced female-specifically, notably via the activity of the desaturase DESAT-F, and are potent pheromones for male courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. We …