A Revisionary, Systematic Monograph of the Drosophila melanogaster Species Group (Insecta: Diptera: Drosophilidae)

DEB- 0075360David A.格里马尔迪博士美国自然历史博物馆的大卫·格里马尔迪和瓦莱丽·施瓦罗奇获得了一笔赠款，用于研究一组果蝇的解剖、习性、分布和进化关系，这些果蝇被许多遗传学和发育生物学研究人员用作实验基础。常见的实验室果蝇，黑腹果蝇，可能比地球上任何其他动物物种都更为人所知。 对果蝇的认真研究始于1910年，当时它首次被用作遗传学的模式生物。 黑腹果蝇实际上属于一组175个命名的物种，黑腹果蝇物种组，所有这些物种都自然生活在非洲，欧亚大陆，澳大利亚和太平洋岛屿的热带森林中。 有些种类，如D.黑腹果蝇在各种水果和蔬菜中繁殖，并在人们定居的地方广泛传播（甚至是农业害虫）。 由于黑腹鱼种类和习性的多样性，实验室培养的便利性，以及对模式物种的独特了解，使其成为比较生物学各方面的理想对象。然而，专家，特别是其他生物学家，如遗传学家，准确鉴定物种是非常困难的。个别物种的分布记录不足，因此外来物种的引入难以发现。 主要的自然历史博物馆的藏品已经包含了新物种，等待完整的描述，命名和分类。 PI的目标是纠正黑腹物种组的基本系统学的缺陷，通过制作硬拷贝和数字合成专著，详细处理每个物种的解剖，习性，分布和关系，包括新描述的。 这本专著将作为一个主要的参考，并将伴随着一个互动的，丰富的说明光盘物种识别。 该软件包将广泛用于学生，实验室技术人员，检疫昆虫学家和各种生物学家，并将大大促进比较生物学的各个方面，无论这些苍蝇被使用，从遗传学和生理学的发展和进化。

DEB- 0075360David A. GrimaldiDrs. David Grimaldi and Valerie Schawaroch of the American Museum of Natural History have been awarded a grant to study the anatomy, habits, distribution, and evolutionary relationships of a group of fruitflies used as an experimental foundation by many researchers in genetics and developmental biology. The common laboratory fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, is probably better known than any other animal species on earth. Serious study of the fly began in 1910, when it was first used as the model organism for genetics. Drosophila melanogaster actually belongs to a group of 175 named species, the melanogaster species group, all of which live naturally in tropical forests of Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and Pacific Islands. Some species, like D. melanogaster, breed in a great variety of fruits and vegetables, and have become widespread (even agricultural pests) wherever people have settled. The diversity of species and habits, their ease of lab culture, and unique knowledge of the model species, has made the melanogaster species group an ideal subject for all aspects of comparative biology.Nevertheless, accurate identification of species by specialists and especially other biologists like geneticists is very difficult. Distributions of individual species are poorly documented, and introductions of exotic species are therefore difficult to detect. Collections of major natural history museums already harbor new species, awaiting complete description, naming, and classification. The goal of the PIs is to rectify deficiencies in the basic systematics of the melanogaster species group, by production of a hard copy and digital synthetic monograph which will treat the anatomy, habits, distribution, and relationships of each species in detail, including newly described ones. This monograph will stand as a major reference, and will be accompanied by an interactive, lavishly illustrated CD-ROM for identification of species. The package will be of widespread use to students, laboratory technicians, quarantine entomologists, and various biologists, and will greatly facilitate all aspects of comparative biology wherever these flies are used, from genetics and physiology to development and evolution.