MicroRNA mutant turns back the evolutionary clock for fly olfaction.
In a recent paper, Cayirlioglu et al. report that the disruption of a specific miRNA, miR-279, which normally acts to inhibit the transcription factor Nerfin-1, uncovers a population of hybrid CO2 neurons in the Drosophila maxillary palp.1 Normally, fruit fly CO2 neurons are found only in the antennae, while mosquito CO2 neurons are found only in the maxillary palps. The hybrid neurons in this miRNA mutant may, thus, recapitulate an evolutionary intermediate unseen since the divergence of these two dipteran lineages over 250 million years ago.
Biological Sciences, KAIST, 335 Gwanghangno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea. waltonjones@kaist.edu
Walton D
WD
Jones
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
D035683:MicroRNAs; D002245:Carbon Dioxide