Epidermal growth factor receptor and transforming growth factor-ß signaling contributes to variation for wing shape in Drosophila melanogaster

Wing development in Drosophila is a common model system for the dissection of genetic networks and their roles during development. In particular, the RTK and TGF-ß regulatory networks appear to be involved with numerous aspects of wing development, including patterning, cell determination, growth, proliferation, and survival in the developing imaginal wing disc. However, little is known as to how subtle changes in the function of these genes may contribute to quantitative variation for wing shape, per se. In this study 50 insertional mutations, representing 43 loci in the RTK, Hedgehog, TGF-ß pathways, and their genetically interacting factors were used to study the role of these networks on wing shape. To concurrently examine how genetic background modulates the effects of the mutation, each insertion was introgressed into two wild-type genetic backgrounds. Using geometric morphometric methods, it is shown that the majority of these mutations have profound effects on shape but not size...果蝇翅膀发育是解析遗传网络及其在发育进程中功能的经典模式系统。其中，受体酪氨酸激酶（Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, RTK）与转化生长因子-β（Transforming Growth Factor-β, TGF-β）调控网络，参与了发育中成虫翅芽盘内翅膀发育的诸多环节，包括模式形成、细胞命运决定、生长、增殖与存活。然而，目前对于这些基因功能的细微变化如何直接导致翅膀形状本身的数量性状变异，仍所知甚少。本研究选取了50个插入突变株系，对应受体酪氨酸激酶、刺猬信号通路、转化生长因子-β通路及其遗传互作因子共43个基因座，以此探究这些调控网络对翅膀形状的调控作用。为同时分析遗传背景如何调控突变的效应，我们将每个插入突变分别回交导入至两种野生型遗传背景中。借助几何形态测量学方法，本研究证实绝大多数此类突变对翅膀形状具有显著影响，但对翅膀大小无明显作用……