Temporal flexibility of gene regulatory network underlies a novel wing pattern in flies.

ABSTRACT: Organisms have evolved endless morphological, physiological, and behavioral novel traits during the course of evolution. Novel traits were proposed to evolve mainly by orchestration of preexisting genes. Over the past two decades, biologists have shown that cooption of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) indeed underlies numerous evolutionary novelties. However, very little is known about the actual GRN properties that allow such redeployment. Here we have investigated the generation and evolution of the complex wing pattern of the fly Samoaia leonensis We show that the transcription factor Engrailed is recruited independently from the other players of the anterior-posterior specification network to generate a new wing pattern. We argue that partial cooption is made possible because 1)

SUBMITTER: Dufour HD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7261121 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature