Divergence of larval morphology between Drosophila sechellia and its sibling species caused by cis-regulatory evolution of ovo/shaven-baby.
We report an extreme morphological difference between Drosophila sechellia and related species of the pattern of hairs on first-instar larvae. On the dorsum of most species, the posterior region of the anterior compartment of most segments is covered by a carpet of fine hairs. In D. sechellia, these hairs have been lost and replaced with naked cuticle. Genetic mapping experiments and interspecific complementation tests indicate that this difference is caused, in its entirety, by evolution at the ovo/shaven-baby locus. The pattern of expression of the ovo/shaven-baby transcript is correlated with this morphological change. The altered dorsal cuticle pattern is probably caused by evolution of the cis-regulatory region of ovo/shaven-baby in the D. sechellia lineage.
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Laboratory for Development and Evolution, University Museum of Zoology, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom.
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D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019521:Body Patterning; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D007814:Larva; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014960:X Chromosome
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C089512:ovo protein, Drosophila