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Genetic control and evolution of sexually dimorphic characters in Drosophila

Nature volume 408, pages 553–559 (2000)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 29 March 2001

Abstract

Sexually dimorphic abdominal pigmentation and segment morphology evolved recently in the melanogaster species group of the fruitfly Drosophila . Here we show that these traits are controlled by the bric-a-brac (bab) gene, which integrates regulatory inputs from the homeotic and sex-determination pathways. bab expression is modulated segment- and sex-specifically in sexually dimorphic species, but is uniform in sexually monomorphic species. We suggest that bab has an ancestral homeotic function, and that regulatory changes at the bab locus played a key role in the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Pigmentation patterns specified by bab affect mating preferences, suggesting that sexual selection has contributed to the evolution of bab regulation.

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Figure 1: Sexually dimorphic pigmentation is of recent evolutionary origin.
Figure 2: Control of male-specific pigmentation by Abd-B, dsx and bab.
Figure 3: Regulation of bab expression by Abd-B and dsx.
Figure 4: Repression of bab correlates with the presence of male-specific pigmentation.
Figure 5: Modulation of bab expression correlates with sexual dimorphism.
Figure 6: The homeotic function of bab.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Laski for bab stocks and antibodies; D. Godt for UAS- bab lines; W. Bender, S. Celniker and E. Sanchez-Herrero for the Abd-B enhancer trap and antibodies; J. David, Y. Fuyama, M. Kimura, J. Roote and the Bowling Green stock centre for various Drosophila species; L. Olds for the artwork; B. Holland, S. Nuzhdin, M. Servedio and J. True and T. Wittkopp for discussions. A.K. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation; I.D. is supported by an NIH grant; S.B.C. is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1525 Linden Drive, Madison, 53706-1596 , Wisconsin, USA

    Artyom Kopp & Sean B. Carroll

  2. Department of Biology, Washington University, St Louis, 63130, Missouri, USA

    Artyom Kopp & Ian Duncan

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Correspondence to Sean B. Carroll.

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Kopp, A., Duncan, I. & Carroll, S. Genetic control and evolution of sexually dimorphic characters in Drosophila. Nature 408, 553–559 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35046017

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