title: Natural variation in Drosophila melanogaster diapause due to the insulin-regulated PI3-kinase.
abstract: This study links natural variation in a Drosophila melanogaster overwintering strategy, diapause, to the insulin-regulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) gene, Dp110. Variation in diapause, a reproductive arrest, was associated with Dp110 by using Dp110 deletions and genomic rescue fragments in transgenic flies. Deletions of Dp110 increased the proportion of individuals in diapause, whereas expression of Dp110 in the nervous system, but not including the visual system, decreased it. The roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase for both diapause in D. melanogaster and dauer formation in Caenorhabditis elegans suggest a conserved role for this kinase in both reproductive and developmental arrests in response to environmental stresses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Toronto, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, Canada L5L 1C6.
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Macarena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busto
authors.forename: Maximiliano L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Suster
authors.forename: Anthony K-C
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben-Shahar
authors.forename: Sally J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Leevers
authors.forename: Marla B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Sokolowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D018628:Gene Dosage / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases