Search results for "Drosophila."
showing 10 items of 769 documents
On the roles of Notch, Delta, kuzbanian, and inscuteable during the development of Drosophila embryonic neuroblast lineages
2009
AbstractThe generation of cellular diversity in the nervous system involves the mechanism of asymmetric cell division. Besides an array of molecules, including the Par protein cassette, a heterotrimeric G protein signalling complex, Inscuteable plays a major role in controlling asymmetric cell division, which ultimately leads to differential activation of the Notch signalling pathway and correct specification of the two daughter cells. In this context, Notch is required to be active in one sibling and inactive in the other. Here, we investigated the requirement of genes previously known to play key roles in sibling cell fate specification such as members of the Notch signalling pathway, e.g…
Linkage disequilibria between mtDNA haplotypes and chromosomal arrangements in a natural population of Drosophila subobscura
2001
The association between mtDNA haplotypes and chromosomal arrangements in a natural population of Drosophila subobscura from Calvia (Balearic Islands, Spain) was studied in order to search for linkage disequilibria, in an attempt to explain the populational dynamics of the mtDNA haplotypes of this species in nature. The presence of Wolbachia was not detected. Two main haplotypes (I and II) were found, as well as a series of less common ones. The Tajima D-test seemed to indicate some kind of seasonal population bottleneck. An analysis of linkage disequilibrium and factorial analysis of correspondences detected an association between haplotype I and the J(ST) inversion and haplotype II and the…
In vitro induction of cecropin genes — an immune response in a Drosophila blood cell line
1992
The Drosophila melanogaster cell line mbn-2 was explored as a model system to study insect immune responses in vitro. This cell line is of blood cell origin, derived from larval hemocytes of the mutant lethal (2) malignant blood neoplasm (1(2)mbn). The mbn-2 cells respond to microbial substances by the activation of cecropin genes, coding for bactericidal peptides. The response is stronger than that previously described for SL2 cells, and four other tested Drosophila cell lines were totally unresponsive. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide, algal laminarin (a beta-1,3-glucan), and bacterial flagellin were strong inducers, bacterial peptidoglycan fragments gave a weaker response, whereas a formyl-m…
The three-dimensional structure of Drosophila melanogaster (6–4) photolyase at room temperature
2021
A crystal structure of a photolyase at room temperature confirms the structural information obtained from cryogenic crystallography and paves the way for time-resolved studies of the photolyase at an X-ray free-electron laser.
Neuroglobin and Other Hexacoordinated Hemoglobins Show a Weak Temperature Dependence of Oxygen Binding
2004
AbstractMouse and human neuroglobins, as well as the hemoglobins from Drosophila melanogaster and Arabidopsis thaliana, were recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli, and their ligand-binding properties were studied versus temperature. These globins have a common feature of being hexacoordinated (via the distal histidine) under deoxy conditions, as evidenced by a large amplitude for the alpha absorption band at 560nm and the Soret band at 426nm. The transition from the hexacoordinated form to the CO bound species is slow, as expected for a replacement reaction Fe-His → Fe → FeCO. The intrinsic binding rates would indicate a high oxygen affinity for the pentacoordinated form, due to rapid…
Sex-specific responses to cold in a very cold-tolerant, northern Drosophila species
2021
Funding: This work was supported by Academy of Finland projects 268214 and 322980 to MK and a NERC (UK) grant NE/P000592/1 to MGR. Organisms can plastically alter resource allocation in response to changing environmental factors. For example, in harsh conditions, organisms are expected to shift investment from reproduction toward survival; however, the factors and mechanisms that govern the magnitude of such shifts are relatively poorly studied. Here we compared the impact of cold on males and females of the highly cold-tolerant species Drosophila montana at the phenotypic and transcriptomic levels. Although both sexes showed similar changes in cold tolerance and gene expression in response…
A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
2018
AbstractThe Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the gen…
Diapause affects cuticular hydrocarbon composition and mating behavior of both sexes inDrosophila montana
2018
Environmental cues, mainly photoperiod and temperature, are known to control female adult reproductive diapause in several insect species. Diapause enhances female survival during adverse conditions and postpones progeny production to the favorable season. Male diapause (a reversible inability to inseminate receptive females) has been studied much less than female diapause. However, if the males maximized their chances to fertilize females while minimizing their energy expenditure, they would be expected to be in diapause at the same time as females. We investigated Drosophila montana male mating behavior under short‐day conditions that induce diapause in females and found the males to be r…
Mapping candidate genes for Drosophila melanogaster resistance to the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi.
2006
Drosophila melanogaster resistance against the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi is under the control of a single gene (Rlb), with two alleles, the resistant one being dominant. Using strains bearing deletions, we previously demonstrated that the 55E2–E6; 55F3 region on chromosome 2R is involved in the resistance phenomenon. In this paper, we first restricted the Rlb containing region by mapping at the molecular level the breakpoints of the Df(2R)Pc66, Df(2R)P34 and Df(2R)Pc4 deficiencies, using both chromosomal in situ hybridization and Southern analyses. The resistance gene was localized in a 100 kb fragment, predicted to contain about 10 different genes. Male recombination genetic exp…
Temperature affects the ontogeny of sexually dimorphic cuticular hydrocarbons inDrosophila melanogaster
2002
0022-0949 (Print) Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Hydrocarbons on the cuticle of mature Drosophila melanogaster flies play a crucial role in mate recognition, and protect against dehydration. We measured the effect of temperature on mature cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs) by (i) rearing two control strains at different temperatures, (ii) shifting the temperature after metamorphosis and (iii) inducing a single heat-shock pulse in control and heat-sensitive transgenic strains, over a period of 3 days following adult eclosion. This study describes the time course of the events involved in the production of male- and female-predominant CHs. We also found that 'immature' CHs, sexua…