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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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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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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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35046017
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