Linked Life Data

18213513

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18213513

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-2-28
pubmed:abstractText
The sex comb is one of the most rapidly evolving male-specific traits in Drosophila, making it an attractive model to study sexual selection and developmental evolution. Drosophila males use their sex combs to grasp the females' abdomen and genitalia and to spread their wings prior to copulation. To test the role of this structure in male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster, we genetically ablated the sex comb by expressing the female-specific isoform of the sex determination gene transformer in the tarsal segments of male legs. This technique does not remove the sex comb entirely, but simply restores the morphology of its constituent bristles to the ancestral condition found in Drosophila species that lack sex combs. Direct observations and differences in long-term insemination rates show that the loss of the sex comb strongly reduces the ability of males to copulate with females. Detailed analysis of video recordings indicates that this effect is not due to changes in the males' courtship behavior. Rapid evolution of sex comb morphology may be driven either by changes in female preferences, or by co-evolution between sex combs and female external genitalia.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
0001-8244
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
38
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
195-201
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Sex combs are important for male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster.
pubmed:affiliation
Section of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California-Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.