Drosophila sechellia
| Drosophila sechellia | |
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| Species: | D. sechellia
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| Binomial name | |
| Drosophila sechellia Tsacas and Baechli, 1981
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Drosophila sechellia is a species of fruit fly, used in lab studies of speciation because it can mate with Drosophila simulans.
Drosophila sechellia is endemic to (some of) the Seychelles, and was one of 12 fruit fly genomes sequenced for a large comparative study.[1]
Morinda fruit
Drosophila sechellia are known to preferentially lay eggs on toxic Morinda fruits. Research has shown that a mutation in the gene that inhibits egg production is associated with a reduction in L-DOPA; L-DOPA is a precursor of the fertility-regulating hormone dopamine. Morinda fruits are rich in L-DOPA, owing to their usually insecticidal capacities. Drosophila sechellia fertility is reliant on the L-DOPA found in Morinda fruit, and as a result Drosophila sechellia reproduces solely on these toxic fruits.[2] Recent research found that reduced expression of a newly discovered gene, Esterase 6 (Est6), is an important element of the genetic underpinnings behind the adaptation of D. Sechellia to feed on Morinda fruits.[3]
References
- ^ Drosophila 12 Genomes Consortium; et al. (2007). "Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny". Nature. 450 (7167): 203–218. Bibcode:2007Natur.450..203C. doi:10.1038/nature06341. PMID 17994087.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Toxic fruits hold the key to reproductive success". Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. December 9, 2014.
- ^ Stephen M. Lanno, Ivy Lam; Zachary Drum; Samuel C. Linde; Sara M. Gregory; Serena J. Shimshak; Mariel V. Becker; Kerry E. Brew; Aashli Budhiraja; Eliza A. Carter; Lorencia Chigweshe; Keagan P. Collins; Timothy Earley; Hannah L. Einstein; Angela A. Fan; Sarah S. Goss; Eric R. Hagen; Sarah B. Hutcheon; Timothy T. Kim; Mackenzie A. Mitchell; Nola R. Neri; Sean E. Patterson; Gregory Ransom; Guadalupe J. Sanchez; Bella M. Weiner; Dacheng Zhao & Joseph D. Coolon (1 October 2019). "Genomics Analysis of L-DOPA Exposure in Drosophila sechellia.". G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 9 (12): 3973–3980. doi:10.1534/g3.119.400552. PMC 6893205. PMID 31575638.
External links
- Drosophila sechellia at FlyBase
- Drosophila sechellia at Ensembl Genomes Metazoa
- View the droSec1 genome assembly in the UCSC Genome Browser
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