Team "Epigenetic control of developmental homeostasis and plasticity", Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Biologie du Développement Paris Seine-Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (LBD-IBPS), 75005 Paris, France.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 23;7:43370. doi: 10.1038/srep43370.
Phenotypic plasticity describes the ability of a given genotype to produce distinct phenotypes in different environments. We use the temperature sensitivity of abdominal pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster females as a model to analyse the effect of the environment on development. We reported previously that thermal plasticity of abdominal pigmentation in females involves the pigmentation gene tan (t). However, the expression of the pigmentation gene yellow (y) was also modulated by temperature in the abdominal epidermis of pharate females. We investigate here the contribution of y to female abdominal pigmentation plasticity. First, we show that y is required for the production of black Dopamine-melanin. Then, using in situ hybridization, we show that the expression of y is strongly modulated by temperature in the abdominal epidermis of pharate females but not in bristles. Interestingly, these two expression patterns are known to be controlled by distinct enhancers. However, the activity of the y-wing-body epidermal enhancer only partially mediates the effect of temperature suggesting that additional regulatory sequences are involved. In addition, we show that y and t co-expression is needed to induce strong black pigmentation indicating that y contributes to female abdominal pigmentation plasticity.
表型可塑性描述了给定基因型在不同环境中产生不同表型的能力。我们使用黑腹果蝇雌性腹部色素沉着的温度敏感性作为模型来分析环境对发育的影响。我们之前报道过，雌性腹部色素沉着的热塑性涉及色素沉着基因 tan（t）。然而，在 pharate 雌性的腹部表皮中，黄色基因（y）的表达也受到温度的调节。我们在这里研究 y 对雌性腹部色素沉着可塑性的贡献。首先，我们表明 y 是产生黑色多巴胺黑色素所必需的。然后，通过原位杂交，我们表明 y 的表达在 pharate 雌性的腹部表皮中受到温度的强烈调节，但在刚毛中不受调节。有趣的是，这两种表达模式已知受不同增强子控制。然而，y 翅体表皮增强子的活性仅部分介导温度的影响，表明涉及其他调节序列。此外，我们表明 y 和 t 的共表达是诱导强烈黑色色素所必需的，表明 y 有助于雌性腹部色素沉着可塑性。
