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Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's 1901 proposal of the use of this species as a model organism, D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. As of 2017, five Nobel Prizes have been awarded to drosophilists for their work using the insect.
Drosophila embryogenesis, the process by which Drosophila embryos form, is a favorite model system for genetics and developmental biology. The study of its embryogenesis unlocked the century-long puzzle of how development was controlled, creating the field of evolutionary developmental biology. The small size, short generation time, and large brood size make it ideal for genetic studies. Transparent embryos facilitate developmental studies. Drosophila melanogaster was introduced into the field of genetic experiments by Thomas Hunt Morgan in 1909.
A null allele is a nonfunctional allele caused by a genetic mutation. Such mutations can cause a complete lack of production of the associated gene product or a product that does not function properly; in either case, the allele may be considered nonfunctional. A null allele cannot be distinguished from deletion of the entire locus solely from phenotypic observation.
The term transheterozygote is used in modern genetics periodicals in two different ways. In the first, the transheterozygote has one mutant (-) and one wildtype allele (+) at each of two different genes. In the second, the transheterozygote carries two different mutated alleles of the same gene. This second definition also applies to the term "heteroallelic combination".
Compartments can be simply defined as separate, different, adjacent cell populations, which upon juxtaposition, create a lineage boundary. This boundary prevents cell movement from cells from different lineages across this barrier, restricting them to their compartment. Subdivisions are established by morphogen gradients and maintained by local cell-cell interactions, providing functional units with domains of different regulatory genes, which give rise to distinct fates. Compartment boundaries are found across species. In the hindbrain of vertebrate embryos, rhobomeres are compartments of common lineage outlined by expression of Hox genes. In invertebrates, the wing imaginal disc of Drosophila provides an excellent model for the study of compartments. Although other tissues, such as the abdomen, and even other imaginal discs are compartmentalized, much of our understanding of key concepts and molecular mechanisms involved in compartment boundaries has been derived from experimentation in the wing disc of the fruit fly.
Myogenesis is the formation of skeletal muscular tissue, particularly during embryonic development.
An asymmetric cell division produces two daughter cells with different cellular fates. This is in contrast to symmetric cell divisions which give rise to daughter cells of equivalent fates. Notably, stem cells divide asymmetrically to give rise to two distinct daughter cells: one copy of the original stem cell as well as a second daughter programmed to differentiate into a non-stem cell fate.
Decapentaplegic (Dpp) is a key morphogen involved in the development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and is the first validated secreted morphogen. It is known to be necessary for the correct patterning and development of the early Drosophila embryo and the fifteen imaginal discs, which are tissues that will become limbs and other organs and structures in the adult fly. It has also been suggested that Dpp plays a role in regulating the growth and size of tissues. Flies with mutations in decapentaplegic fail to form these structures correctly, hence the name. Dpp is the Drosophila homolog of the vertebrate bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which are members of the TGF-β superfamily, a class of proteins that are often associated with their own specific signaling pathway. Studies of Dpp in Drosophila have led to greater understanding of the function and importance of their homologs in vertebrates like humans.
Faint little ball (flb) is a Drosophila gene that encodes the Drosophila epidermal growth factor receptor (DER) homolog. The gene is also called torpedo and Ellipse. The gene is located at 3-26 of the Drosophila melanogaster genome. It is named faint little ball because when the gene is mutated the embryo forms a ball of dorsal hypoderm. flb is necessary for several processes to occur during embryonic development, specifically in central nervous system development. It is expressed as quickly as 4 hours after fertilization of the egg. The peak of expression of the flb gene is between 4–8 hours into development. In all processes that are facilitated by flb the same signal transduction pathway is used. Drosophila EGF receptor is involved in the development of embryos as well as larvae/pupae's wings, eyes, legs and ovaries.
A pair-rule gene is a type of gene involved in the development of the segmented embryos of insects. Pair-rule genes are expressed as a result of differing concentrations of gap gene proteins, which encode transcription factors controlling pair-rule gene expression. Pair-rule genes are defined by the effect of a mutation in that gene, which causes the loss of the normal developmental pattern in alternating segments.
Dock180, also known as DOCK1, is a large protein involved in intracellular signalling networks. It is the mammalian ortholog of the C. elegans protein CED-5 and belongs to the DOCK family of Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs).
Anillin is a conserved protein implicated in cytoskeletal dynamics during cellularization and cytokinesis. The ANLN gene in humans and the scraps gene in Drosophila encode Anillin. In 1989, anillin was first isolated in embryos of Drosophila melanogaster. It was identified as an F-actin binding protein. Six years later, the anillin gene was cloned from cDNA originating from a Drosophila ovary. Staining with anti-anillin antibody showed the anillin localizes to the nucleus during interphase and to the contractile ring during cytokinesis. These observations agree with further research that found anillin in high concentrations near the cleavage furrow coinciding with RhoA, a key regulator of contractile ring formation.
CED-5 is an ortholog of the mammalian protein Dock180，which present in the nematode worm C. elegans., the Drosophila melanogaster ortholog of CED-5 is Myoblast city.
The halloween genes are a set of genes identified in Drosophila melanogaster that influence embryonic development. All of the genes code for cytochrome P450 enzymes in the ecdysteroidogenic pathway (biosynthesis of ecdysone from cholesterol). Ecdysteroids such as 20-hydroxyecdysone and ecdysone influence many of the morphological, physiological, biochemical changes that occur during molting in insects.
Germ-band extension is a morphological process widely studied in Drosophila melanogaster in which the germ-band, which develops into the segmented trunk of the embryo, approximately doubles in length along the anterior-posterior axis while subsequently narrowing along the dorsal-ventral axis.
Dally is the name of a gene that encodes a HS-modified-protein found in the fruit fly. The protein has to be processed after being codified, and in its mature form it is composed by 626 amino acids, forming a proteoglycan rich in heparin sulfate which is anchored to the cell surface via covalent linkage to glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI), so we can define it as a glypican. For its normal biosynthesis it requires sugarless (sgl), a gene that encodes an enzyme which plays a critical role in the process of modification of dally.
Cycle (cyc) is a gene in Drosophila melanogaster that encodes the CYCLE protein (CYC). The Cycle gene (cyc) is expressed in a variety of cell types in a circadian manner. It is involved in controlling both the sleep-wake cycle and circadian regulation of gene expression by promoting transcription in a negative feedback mechanism. The cyc gene is located on the left arm of chromosome 3 and codes for a transcription factor containing a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domain and a PAS domain. The 2.17 kb cyc gene is divided into 5 coding exons totaling 1,625 base pairs which code for 413 aminos acid residues. Currently 19 alleles are known for cyc. Orthologs performing the same function in other species include ARNTL and ARNTL2.
Homeotic protein bicoid is encoded by the bcd maternal effect gene in Drosophilia. Homeotic protein bicoid concentration gradient patterns the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis during Drosophila embryogenesis. Bicoid was the first protein demonstrated to act as a morphogen. Although bicoid is important for the development of Drosophila and other higher dipterans, it is absent from most other insects, where its role is accomplished by other genes.
Vrille (vri) is a bZIP transcription factor found on chromosome 2 in Drosophila melanogaster. Vrille mRNA and protein product (VRI) oscillate predictably on a 24-hour timescale and interact with other circadian clock genes to regulate circadian rhythms in Drosophila. It is also a regulator in embryogenesis; it is expressed in multiple cell types during multiple stages in development, coordinating embryonic dorsal/ventral polarity, wing-vein differentiation, and ensuring tracheal integrity. It is also active in the embryonic gut but the precise function there is unknown. Mutations in vri alter circadian period and cause circadian arrhythmicity and developmental defects in Drosophila.
Spätzle or spaetzle is an evolutionarily-conserved arthropod protein first identified in Drosophila melanogaster. It plays a role in embryonic development and in the insect innate immune response. The name was coined by the Nobel laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard after the Spätzle noodle-like form of homozygous mutant fly larvae.
References
- ↑ "FlyBase Gene Report:Dmel\mbc". FlyBase Consortium. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
- 1 2 Erickson MR, Galletta BJ, Abmayr SM (August 1997). "Drosophila myoblast city encodes a conserved protein that is essential for myoblast fusion, dorsal closure, and cytoskeletal organization". J. Cell Biol. 138 (3): 589–603. doi:10.1083/jcb.138.3.589. PMC 2141626 . PMID 9245788.
- ↑ Nolan KM, Barrett K, Lu Y, Hu KQ, Vincent S, Settleman J (November 1998). "Myoblast city, the Drosophila homolog of DOCK180/CED-5, is required in a Rac signaling pathway utilized for multiple developmental processes". Genes Dev. 12 (21): 3337–42. doi:10.1101/gad.12.21.3337. PMC 317223 . PMID 9808621.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rushton, E.; Drysdale, R.; Abmayr, S.M.; Michelson, A.M.; Bate, M. (1995-07-01). "Mutations in a novel gene, myoblast city, provide evidence in support of the founder cell hypothesis for Drosophila muscle development". Development. 121 (7): 1979–1988. doi:10.1242/dev.121.7.1979. ISSN 1477-9129. PMID 7635046.
