title: Enhanced flight performance by genetic manipulation of wing shape in Drosophila.
abstract: Insect wing shapes are remarkably diverse and the combination of shape and kinematics determines both aerial capabilities and power requirements. However, the contribution of any specific morphological feature to performance is not known. Using targeted RNA interference to modify wing shape far beyond the natural variation found within the population of a single species, we show a direct effect on flight performance that can be explained by physical modelling of the novel wing geometry. Our data show that altering the expression of a single gene can significantly enhance aerial agility and that the Drosophila wing shape is not, therefore, optimized for certain flight performance characteristics that are known to be important. Our technique points in a new direction for experiments on the evolution of performance specialities in animals.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, John Maynard Smith Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK.
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Lund University, Ecology Building SE-22362 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Henningsson
authors.affiliation: Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bomphrey
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins