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- Chromosomal inversion polymorphisms and adaptationChromosomal inversion polymorphisms and adaptation
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 19, Issue 9, 1 September 2004, Pages 482-488
Ary A. Hoffmann, Carla M. Sgrò and Andrew R. Weeks
AbstractChromosomal inversion polymorphisms continue to be identified from an increasing number of populations of insects, plants, bacteria and humans. In the fruit fly , chromosomal polymorphisms were used in classic studies of natural selection. Recent molecular genetic studies suggest that inversion polymorphisms are dynamical systems. These studies also indicate patterns of disequilibrium and variation that are consistent with co-adapted gene complexes. Although these complexes have yet to be identified, recent studies have identified traits, such as body size, that are linked to inversion polymorphisms. Selection acting on these polymorphisms is strong because latitudinal clines in inversion frequency become re-established rapidly after a new continent is colonized. A combined molecular and phenotypic approach is helping to identify the role of inversion polymorphisms in adaptive divergence, but the genes responsible for associations between traits and inversion polymorphisms remain to be identified.
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (170 kb) - Only long sperm are fertilization-competent in six sperm-het...Only long sperm are fertilization-competent in six sperm-heteromorphic Drosophila species
Current Biology, Volume 8, Issue 5, 26 February 1998, Pages 291-294
Rhonda R. Snook and Timothy L. Karr
SummaryMales of many species exhibit sperm heteromorphism, in which multiple morphologies of sperm are produced in a common testis (see references in ). Polymegaly, a form of sperm heteromorphism, is found in the group and is characterized by the production of two size classes of nucleated sperm that differ only in head and tail lengths . Both the length and the ratio of sperm types produced is species-specific , and each sperm type develops in its own bundle deriving from a single stem cell . Previous studies suggested that both types of sperm are fertilization-competent on the basis of similar ultrastructure , DNA content , nuclear protein transition during spermatogenesis , and storage in females . However, a previous study demonstrated that only long sperm fertilize eggs . Here, we extend this study to examine fertilization in six group species using anti-sperm antibodies and digital deconvolution microscopy. Consistent with the previous study, we found that all eggs were fertilized by only the long sperm type, even in polyspermic eggs. Moreover, sperm entry and position during and following fertilization were similar to other groups . Thus, polymegaly and its maintenance appear to have arisen independently of fertilization processes .
Summary | Full Text | PDF (147 kb) - Evolution of yellow Gene Regulation and Pigmentation in Dros...Evolution of yellow Gene Regulation and Pigmentation in Drosophila
Current Biology, Volume 12, Issue 18, 17 September 2002, Pages 1547-1556
Patricia J. Wittkopp, Kathy Vaccaro and Sean B. Carroll
SummaryEvolutionary changes in Yellow expression correlate with divergent melanin patterns and are a result of evolution in both - and -regulation. These changes were likely necessary for the divergence of pigmentation, but evolutionary changes in other genes were also required.
Summary | Full Text | PDF (465 kb) - …more
Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Current Biology, Volume 17, Issue 1, R16-R18, 9 January 2007
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.035
Dispatch
Global Warming: Fly Populations Are Responding Rapidly to Climate Change
Belinda van Heerwaarden and Ary A. Hoffmann 
Summary
New studies on chromosome inversion polymorphisms in Drosophila species show that the genetic constitution of populations is responding to recent climate change and that widespread species may have the potential to undergo adaptive shifts. Genetic markers in widespread species can act as indicators of climate change on natural populations.
