Dissertation Research: The Evolution and Development of Abdominal Pigmentation Patterns in Natural Populations of Drosophila polymorpha

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

0104977 Templeton Abdominal pigmentation pattern varies widely in the genus Drosophila. In particular, the South American species D. polymorpha exhibits a range of abdominal pigmentation patterns, with light, intermediate, and dark morphs. The frequency of these morphs varies with time and space, indicating that this trait is under natural selection and thus important in the ecology of the species. The proposed research aims to understand this pigmentation pattern polymorphism from both developmental and population genetic perspectives by: 1) examining the developmental processes leading to pigmentation differences within the species; 2) correlating pigmentation differences with variation at candidate gene loci; and 3) examining the microevolutionary forces affecting current geographic distributions of the trait by determining the spatial distribution of genetic variation in natural Brazilian populations. Only a few similar studies have investigated the general question of morphological evolution at such a microevolutionary level, and only a subset of these have addressed the evolutionary forces shaping the fate of a variable trait. Finally, this proposal is unique in that it is a multidisciplinary approach, uniting investigators and integrating methods from both developmental biology and population genetics in both the United States and Brazil.