Drosophila males contribute to oogenesis in a multiple mating species

Two species of Drosophila that differ in their ecology and mating systems have been compared with respect to male contribution to the somatic tissues and developing oocytes of females. In the species Drosophila mojavensis females remate daily, exhibit a copulatory plug, and have been shown to obtain a contribution from the male ejaculate. In contrast, Drosophila melanogaster males do not contribute to females. Female Drosophila melanogaster do not remate as frequently as Drosophila mojavensis females nor is a copulatory plug formed.     

Site-specific X-chromosome rearrangements from hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

When the germ line of Drosophila males is destabilized by a syndrome known as hybrid dysgenesis, X-chromosome rearrangements are found in up to 10 percent of the gametes produced. Some of these aberrations are simple inversions, but many are complex multibreak rearrangements. Furthermore, most of the breakpoints fall into a few highly localized positions on the chromosome. These positions are mostly at points of intercalary heterochromatin and may vary from one strain to the next. the results suggest that they may represent points of insertion of mobile DNA sequences.     

Molecular transfer of a species-specific behavior from Drosophila simulans to Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila males modulate the interpulse intervals produced during their courtship songs. These song cycles, which are altered by mutations in the clock gene period, exhibit a species-specific variation that facilitates mating. We have used chimeric period gene constructs from Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans in germline transformation experiments to map the genetic control of their song rhythm difference to a small segment of the amino acid encoding information within this gene.     

Esterase 6 and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

A nonspecific carboxylesterase (esterase 6) of Drosophila melanogaster shows greater activity in adult males than in females and is highly concentrated in the anterior ejaculatory duct of the reproductive tract of the male. Esterase 6 is depleted in males by copulation and is transferred to females early during copulation as a component of the seminal fluid. That esterase 6 may be involved in a system controlling the timing of remating is suggested by differences in the activity of this enzyme in a strain of Drosophila selected for a decrease in time to remating and by differences in the timing of remating in females initially inseminated by males lacking or having active esterase 6.     

Phenotypic effects of heterozygous,x-rayinduced mutations in Drosophila

Heterozygous mutations produced by 3000 r delay pupation in about 9 percent of larvae of Drosophila melanogaster under nutritional stress and kill approximately 6 percent. The effects are less, though appreciable, when there is excess nutrient; no effects are detectable after o?gonia are irradiated. Irradiated sperm and o?cytes cause detriment, partly via different types of mutations, in approximately equal amounts.     

A genetic constitution frustrating the sexual drive in Drosophila paulistorum

Hybrids obtained in the laboratory between two subspecies of Drosophila paulistorum possess a genetic constitution which is discordant enough so that the hybrid females repel the courtship of all males, and will mate with none. The hybrid males will court and will be rejected by almost all females, including their own hybrid siblings.     

Interspecific genetic control of courtship song production and reception in Drosophila

The genetic control of courtship song differences between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans males was investigated by producing hybrids from reciprocal crosses. The song rhythm difference between the parental species appears to be due to sex-linked genes, whereas the basic interpulse-interval difference is autosomally inherited. Hybrid females show selective preferences for artificially generated songs carrying intermediate "hybrid" characteristics.     

Sex peptide of Drosophila melanogaster

All tested stocks of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit a peptide in males but not in females. The failure of some investigators to demonstrate its presence is attributable to their choice of chromatographic solvents. Acid hydrolysis confirms its peptide identity. Its presence in females transformed into males by the mutant tra implicates the sex-determining loci in its formation.     

Paucity of genes on the Drosophila X chromosome showing male-biased expression

Sex chromosomes are primary determinants of sexual dimorphism in many organisms. These chromosomes are thought to arise via the divergence of an ancestral autosome pair and are almost certainly influenced by differing selection in males and females. Exploring how sex chromosomes differ from autosomes is highly amenable to genomic analysis. We examined global gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster and report a dramatic underrepresentation of X-chromosome genes showing high relative expression in males. Using comparative genomics, we find that these same X-chromosome genes are exceptionally poorly conserved in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. These data indicate that the X chromosome is a disfavored location for genes selectively expressed in males.     

Lysergic acid diethylamine: mutagenic effects in Drosophila

d-Lysergic acid diethylamide causes a significant increase in recessive lethal mutations in the X chromosome of Drosophila males after intraperitoneal injection of massive doses.     

Mating preference and the direction of evolution in Drosophila

Differences in the degree of successful matings between pairs of reciprocal hybrid matings indicate the direction of evolution among related species of Drosophila. Females of a derived species do not mate with males of the ancestral species, whereas females of the ancestral species readily mate with males of the derived species.     

Simulation of the mating advantage in mating of rare drosophila males

In several species of Drosophila, certain males mate more frequently when they are less abundant than they do when they are in the majority. The mating advantage may be artificially induced by the use of a "double chamber" technique, even when there is no difference in the actual frequencies of the competing males.     

富甘氨酸果蝇抗菌肽SK66对子宫颈癌细胞Hela增殖的研究

SK66是一个编码了N端为丝氨酸、C端为赖氨酸且含有66个氨基酸残基的富甘氨酸果蝇抗菌肽。SK66能杀灭宫颈癌细胞Hela,经SK66处理后子宫颈癌细胞Hela的贴壁性很快被破坏,大量细胞悬浮并死亡。通过MTT试验,发现SK66能够显著抑制子宫颈癌细胞Hela的增殖。采用膜片钳技术,研究表明SK66能在DRG细胞上形成阳离子通道。这说明SK66对癌细胞的杀灭机制可能为细胞膜出现大量穿孔、原生质泄漏,细胞破裂死亡。     

Modification of cortically induced responses in brain stem by shift of attention in monkeys

The frequency of lethal mutations occurring in Drosophila melanogaster was reduced by approximately one-half when irradiated males were treated with actinomycin D, which also inhibited the appearance of melanotic atypical growths in the strain used for the study.     

An El Jobo Mastodon Kill at Taima-taima, Venezuela

Excavation at Taima-taima in 1976 recovered artifacts of the El Jobo complex in direct association with the butchered remains of a juvenile mastodon. Radiocarbon dates on associated wood twigs indicate a minimum age of 13,000 years before the present for the mastodon kill, a dating significantly older than that of the Clovis complex in North America. The El Jobo complex must have evolved independently in northern South America.     

Drosophila melanogaster treated with LSD: absence of mutation and chromosome breakage

Injection of lysergic acid diethylamide in Drosophila melanogaster males induced no mutations or chromosome breaks in premeiotic, meiotic, or postmeiotic sperm. Tests included those for sex-linked lethals, sex-linked visibles, a specific visible (dumpy), and translocations. Some implications of these experiments are discussed.     

Decay of female sexual behavior under parthenogenesis

A laboratory strain of Drosophila mercatorum has existed for 20 years without males and therefore without natural selection operating to maintain the genetic basis of female mating behavior. The females of this strain have recently experienced a genetic impairment of mating capacity. This observation exemplifies the mode of evolution of vestigial characters and supports Muller's theory that random mutation will tend to destroy the genetic basis of a character from which selection has been removed.     

Ectopic expression of germline genes drives malignant brain tumor growth in Drosophila

Model organisms such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster can help to elucidate the molecular basis of complex diseases such as cancer. Mutations in the Drosophila gene lethal (3) malignant brain tumor cause malignant growth in the larval brain. Here we show that l(3)mbt tumors exhibited a soma-to-germline transformation through the ectopic expression of genes normally required for germline stemness, fitness, or longevity. Orthologs of some of these genes were also expressed in human somatic tumors. In addition, inactivation of any of the germline genes nanos, vasa, piwi, or aubergine suppressed l(3)mbt malignant growth. Our results demonstrate that germline traits are necessary for tumor growth in this Drosophila model and suggest that inactivation of germline genes might have tumor-suppressing effects in other species.     

Hawaiian courtship songs: evolutionary innovation in communication signals of Drosophila

In Hawaii, flies of the genus Drosophila have undergone spectacular adaptive radiation, resulting in the evolution of more than 500 species of Drosophila that are found nowhere else on earth. This taxonomic uniqueness is reflected in behavior and morphology. Hawaiian Drosophila sing songs, as do continental Drosophila; however, the Hawaiian songs have diverged strongly in form and mechanism of production. The click-song of D. fasciculisetae's (Maui) has a carrier frequency an order of magnitude higher than those reported in familiar continental species, such as D. melanogaster (170 hertz). Drosophila fasciculisetae's song resembles a cicada's more than a fly's song. The song of D. cyrtoloma (Maui) has a complex pulse rhythm more typical of crickets than flies. The pulse song of D. silvestris (Hawaii) closely resembles that of D. melanogaster in both pulse rhythm and carrier frequency, but D. melanogaster sings by vibrating its wings, whereas D. silvestris sings through abdominal vibrations. These mechanisms are radical departures from the continental wing song mechanism and are further examples of the remarkable behavioral innovation that has occurred in the Drosophila of Hawaii during their evolutionary transit through these islands.