Drosophila

A Guide to Species Identification and Use

Therese A. Markow, Patrick O'Grady

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9780080454092
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Genetics & Genomics
• Index: Biological Sciences

Anyone wishing to tap the research potential of the hundreds of Drosophila species in addition to D.melanogaster will finally have a single comprehensive resource for identifying, rearing and using this diverse group of insects. This is the only group of higher eukaryotes for which the genomes of 12 species have been sequenced.The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster continues to be one of the greatest sources of information regarding the principles of heredity that apply to all animals, including humans. In reality, however, over a thousand different species of Drosophila exist, each with the potential to make their own unique contributions to the rapidly changing fields of genetics and evolution. This book, by providing basic information on how to identify and breed these other fruitflies, will allow investigators to take advantage, on a large scale, of the valuable qualities of these other Drosophila species and their newly developed genomic resources to address critical scientific questions.* Provides easy to use keys and illustrations to identify different Drosophila species* A guide to the life history differences of hundreds of species* Worldwide distribution maps of hundreds of species* Complete recipes for different Drosophila diets* Offers an analysis on how to account for species differences in designing and conducting experiments* Presents useful ideas of how to collect the many different Drosophila species in the wild

Part 1

How to look at flies

Outline

Chapter 1: Phylogenetic relationships of Drosophilidae

Chapter 2: Morphological characters

Chapter 3: Key to species

Chapter 1

Phylogenetic relationships of Drosophilidae

Publisher Summary

The understanding of phylogenetic relationships within the family Drosophilidae has increased greatly in the 30 years since Throckmorton’s review. A number of phylogenetic studies have used both morphology and molecules to infer relationships among the many genera in this family. Although no firm consensus exists—and several key relationships are openly contentious—a picture of the evolutionary history of this group is emerging. The largest impediment is that the molecular studies are still woefully inadequate with respect to their taxon sampling. Much phylogenetic work in the Drosophilidae today is comparative. Phylogenetic trees of drosophilid species are employed as necessary tools to understand the evolution of transposable elements, development, and a number of other phenomena. In many cases, these phylogenies are in agreement with previous work and are serving to refine the notions of evolution at the species level. Further, basic systematic work is needed not only to fill in the gaps in the knowledge but also to build upon the comparative framework that is already in place in this family.

Contents

• The origin of the family Drosophilidae

• Drosophilidae: relationships among genera

• Steganinae

• Drosophilinae

• Conclusions

• Acknowledgements

• References

The origin of the family Drosophilidae

The Drosophilidae is an acalyptrate family in the superfamily Ephydroidea (McAlpine, 1989). This superfamily contains two large families, Ephydridae and Drosophilidae, as well as several smaller families, such as Camilidae, Diastatidae, and Curtonotidae. Throckmorton (1975) suggested that Diastatidae was the closest relative of the Drosophilidae, based largely on the fact that diastatids are saprophagous in leaf mold (Oldroyd, 1964; Hennig, 1965). Even though Okada (1962) suggested that the ancestral drosophilid substrate was bleeding tree sap, Throckmorton (1975) believed that the current diversity of substrates was the result of opportunism centering on the saprophagous leaf-mold habit.

Grimaldi (1990) examined the phylogenetic relationships of Ephydroidea using morphological characters. Of the three most parsimonious trees his search recovered, he selected a “preferred phylogeny”. The strict consensus of all three trees gives the more conservative hypothesis (Figure 1.1a). McAlpine (1989) presents an alternative view of evolution in the superfamily Ephydroidea (Figure 1.1b). These two phylogenetic hypotheses differ mainly in the placement of Drosophilidae. The strict consensus of Grimaldi’s (1990) trees is unable to resolve the sister group of the Drosophilidae (his preferred tree favored the Curtonotidae as the sister family of Drosophilidae). McAlpine’s (1989) phylogeny, however, suggests that the Camilidae is the sister clade of Drosophilidae. The exact placement of Drosophilidae remains an open question, as few ephydroid taxa outside of Drosophilidae and a small number of Ephydridae are well known.

Figure 1.1 (a) Phylogeny of Ephydroidea based on Grimaldi (1990); (b) Phylogeny of Ephydroidea from McAlpine (1989).

Throckmorton (1975) placed the origin...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Part 1: How to look at flies
• Part 2: How to collect wild flies
• Part 3: How to use living flies
• Part 4: Resources
• Index