Final Report Summary - ROBUST (Evolution of a new stable phenotype: a genetic, developmental and behavioural analysis)
Our project aims to answer one of the most challenging questions of modern evolutionary biology: what makes each species different from the others and what determines the biological traits of each species, enabling them to live successfully in their ecological niches? For example, compared to other apes, humans have elongated thumb and shortened fingers. How did these traits occur during our evolution?
We searched for the genes that determine the number of genital sensory hairs in fruit flies. We found that the new hair pattern of Drosophila santomea is due to at least three mutations located within an exquisitely small genomic region which controls the expression of a single gene. Our work is the first unequivocal identification of a gene causing evolution of genitals in animals. Surprisingly, we found that one of the mutation, a single letter change in the DNA, contributed to both a loss of genital hairs and a gain of hairs on the leg. The effect of this mutation is small: other mutations also contribute to the species difference in leg and genital hair number.
Our study shows that several traits can co-evolve all at once due to one mutation of a single letter in the DNA. The various traits that make us human may not have appeared individually one by one during our evolution. It is possible that some of our species-specific traits are just by-products of mutations that evolved for other reasons. Evolutionary studies such as ours are important to better understand the role of contingency in life evolution.
We searched for the genes that determine the number of genital sensory hairs in fruit flies. We found that the new hair pattern of Drosophila santomea is due to at least three mutations located within an exquisitely small genomic region which controls the expression of a single gene. Our work is the first unequivocal identification of a gene causing evolution of genitals in animals. Surprisingly, we found that one of the mutation, a single letter change in the DNA, contributed to both a loss of genital hairs and a gain of hairs on the leg. The effect of this mutation is small: other mutations also contribute to the species difference in leg and genital hair number.
Our study shows that several traits can co-evolve all at once due to one mutation of a single letter in the DNA. The various traits that make us human may not have appeared individually one by one during our evolution. It is possible that some of our species-specific traits are just by-products of mutations that evolved for other reasons. Evolutionary studies such as ours are important to better understand the role of contingency in life evolution.