Does the fruitless gene influence species-specific variation in mating behaviour?

负责物种特定交配信号变化的基因对物种形成和生物多样性可能很重要，因为这些基因座的进化分歧可以在促进性别隔离和减少不同物种自然种群之间的基因流动方面发挥作用。识别和研究这些基因的差异是当代进化遗传学的一个关键优先事项。在果蝇种间和种内歌唱性状差异的一系列QTL研究中，无果基因(Fru)参与了这一经典性状的变异控制。人们对该基因在控制黑腹果蝇歌声产生方面的结构和功能知之甚少，但对其在歌唱自然变异中的作用知之甚少。我们建议a)发展先进的‘基因交换’技术的组合，以将基因的外显子从一系列物种转移到黑腹盘藻中；b)研究在自然种群和物种之间以及在自然种群内和物种之间的fru的分子进化；c)对fru的变异和自然种群中的性状进行关联分析；以及d)研究调节区的进化，以便在多个水平上详细地评估fru在自然变异中的作用。这将代表对复杂行为特征候选基因进化的独特详细检查。

Genes responsible for variation in species-specific mating signals may be important to speciation and biodiversity because evolutionary divergence in these loci can play a role in promoting sexual isolation and decreasing gene flow between natural populations of diverging species. Identifying and studying the divergence of such genes is a key priority of contemporary evolutionary genetics. In a series of QTL studies of divergence of song traits between and within species of the fruit fly Drosophila, the gene fruitless (fru) has been implicated in the control of variation in this classic trait. Much is known about the structure and function of this gene in controlling song production in D. melanogaster, but little if anything about its role in influencing natural variation in song. We propose a) developing a combination of advanced 'gene swap' techniques to move exons of the gene from a range of species into D. melanogaster b) studies of the molecular evolution of fru within and between natural populations and species c) association analysis of variation in fru and traits in natural populations and d) examination of the evolution of regulatory regions to assess in detail the role of fru in natural variation at multiple levels. This will represent a uniquely detailed examination of the evolution of a candidate locus for a complex behavioural trait.