Sex Combs are Important for Male Mating Success in Drosophila melanogaster

Ng, Chen Siang; Kopp, Artyom

doi:10.1007/s10519-008-9190-7

Cited by 54 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Also, it has advantages over genetic engineering, which cannot easily exclude confounding effects arising from pleiotropic transgenes or from the genetic background of mutant stocks (Chapman et al 1995;Ng & Kopp 2008). With this laser technique, we have opened up for experimental study a rich diversity of microscale morphological traits previously inaccessible with mechanical tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscale laser surgery reveals adaptive function of male intromittent genitalia

2010

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The leading hypothesis for the evolution of male genital complexity proposes that genital traits evolve in response to post-insemination sexual selection; that is, via cryptic female choice or sperm competition. Here, we describe a laser ablation technique for high-precision manipulation of microscale body parts of insects, and employ it to discern the adaptive function of a rapidly evolving and taxonomically important genital trait: the intromittent claw-like genital spines of male Drosophila bipectinata Duda. We demonstrate experimentally and unambiguously that the genital spines of this species function to mechanically couple the genitalia together. The excision of the spines by laser ablation sharply reduced the ability of males both to copulate and to compete against rival males for mates. When spineless males did succeed to copulate, their insemination success and fertilization rate were not statistically different from controls, at odds with the post-insemination sexual selection hypothesis of genital function and evolution. The results provide direct experimental support for the hypothesis that genital traits evolve in response to sexual selection occurring prior to insemination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscale laser surgery reveals adaptive function of male intromittent genitalia

2010

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“…Sex combs are used in stereotypical behaviors during courtship (17,20), and removing the sex comb results in a reduction in the frequency of successful mating in a number of species (17,20). In addition to the sex comb, the first tarsal segment has other bristle rows including the transverse rows (TR; Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation

Malagon

Ahuja

Sivapatham

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In spite of the diversity of possible biological forms observed in nature, a limited range of morphospace is frequently occupied for a given trait. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this bias in the distribution of phenotypes including selection, drift, and developmental constraints. Despite extensive work on phenotypic bias, the underlying developmental mechanisms explaining why particular regions of morphological space remain unoccupied are poorly understood. To address this issue, we studied the sex comb, a group of modified bristles used in courtship that shows marked morphological diversity among Drosophila species. In many Drosophila species including Drosophila melanogaster, the sex comb rotates 90°to a vertical position during development. Here we analyze the effect of changing D. melanogaster sex comb length on the process of rotation. We find that artificial selection changes the number of bristles per comb without a proportional change in the space available for rotation. As a result, when increasing sex comb length, rather than displaying a similar straight vertical shape observed in other Drosophila species, long sex combs bend because rotation is blocked by a neighboring row of bristles. Our results show ways in which morphologies that would be favored by natural selection are apparently impossible to achieve developmentally. These findings highlight the potential role of development in modifying selectable variation in the evolution of Drosophila sex comb length.

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“…Outside of this lineage, males and females have identical leg bristle patterns. Sex combs play important and diverse roles in courtship and mating (15)(16)(17), suggesting that their evolution was driven by sexual selection. As a result, closely related species can differ dramatically in sex comb morphology (8,18,19).…”

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confidence: 99%

Distinct developmental mechanisms underlie the evolutionary diversification of Drosophila sex combs

Tanaka

Barmina

Kopp

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Similar selective pressures can lead to independent origin of similar morphological structures in multiple evolutionary lineages. Developmental mechanisms underlying convergent evolution remain poorly understood. In this report, we show that similar sex comb morphology in closely related Drosophila species is produced by different cellular mechanisms. The sex comb is a recently evolved, male-specific array of modified bristles derived from transverse bristle rows found on the first thoracic legs in both sexes. ''Longitudinal'' sex combs oriented along the proximo-distal leg axis evolved independently in several Drosophila lineages. We show that in some of these lineages, sex combs originate as one or several transverse bristle rows that subsequently rotate 90°and align to form a single longitudinal row. In other species, bristle cells that make up the sex combs arise in their final longitudinal orientation. Thus, sex combs can develop through either sexspecific patterning of bristle precursor cells or male-specific morphogenesis of sexually monomorphic precursors. Surprisingly, the two mechanisms produce nearly identical morphology in some species. Phylogenetic analysis shows that each of these mechanisms has probably evolved repeatedly in different Drosophila lineages, suggesting that selection can recruit different cellular processes to produce similar functional solutions. Convergent evolution ͉ Morphogenesis ͉ Sexual dimorphism

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Sex Combs are Important for Male Mating Success in Drosophila melanogaster

Cited by 54 publications

References 28 publications

Microscale laser surgery reveals adaptive function of male intromittent genitalia

Microscale laser surgery reveals adaptive function of male intromittent genitalia

Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation

Distinct developmental mechanisms underlie the evolutionary diversification of Drosophila sex combs

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