Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Evolution

Spot on (and off)

Nature volume 440, pages 1001–1002 (2006)Cite this article

The repeated appearance and loss of a spot on the wings of fruitflies during their evolution is caused by mutations in one gene. This finding provides an unprecedented window on the genetics of convergent evolution.

The authors began by reconstructing genealogical relationships among 77 fruitfly species in the genus Drosophila. They then used this information to identify gains and losses of a pigment spot on the flies' wings, and found that the spot had evolved independently at least twice, producing convergent similarity in D. biarmipes and D. tristis (Fig. 1 on page 1050). But the spot was subsequently lost on several occasions as well. For instance, the unadorned wings of the most famous species in the genus, D. melanogaster, derive from a distant spotted ancestor.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Spots on flies.

References

  1. Hall, B. K. (ed.) Homology: The Hierarchical Basis of Comparative Biology (Academic, London, 1994).

  2. Conway Morris, S. Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Prud'homme, B. et al. Nature 440, 1050–1053 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gompel, N. et al. Nature 433, 481–487 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wittkopp, P. J., True, J. & Carroll, S. B. Development 129, 1849–1858 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wittkopp, P. J., Vaccaro, K. & Carroll, S. B. Curr. Biol. 12, 1547–1556 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. King, M. -C. & Wilson, A. Science 188, 107–116 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Carroll, S. B. Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Norton, New York, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Campos-Ortega, J. A. & Hartenstein, V. The Embryonic Development of Drosophila melanogaster (Springer, Berlin, 1997).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Stone, J. & Wray, G. A. Mol. Biol. Evol. 18, 1764–1770 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kopp, A. & True, J. R. Evol. Dev. 4, 278–291 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Yeh, S. -D., Lio, S. -R. & True, J. R. Heredity (in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, 27708, North Carolina, USA

    Gregory A. Wray

Authors
  1. Gregory A. Wray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wray, G. Spot on (and off). Nature 440, 1001–1002 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/4401001a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4401001a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing