RESUMEN
A comprehensive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has persistent formative effects on individuals, communities, and society. In this regard, Marla Sokolowski's academic legacy will forever reflect her unique contributions to STEM education and mentoring. Furthermore, her creative and multidisciplinary approach to research has resulted in groundbreaking advances in our understanding of behavior genetics. Illustrated here are a few of our life-long learning experiences drawn mainly from earlier parts of Marla's career.
Asunto(s)
Genética/historia , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXIRESUMEN
Fruit flies inhabit a wide range of latitudes, requiring adaptation to the varying local climates. A recent study reports evidence that the ability of North American flies to endure the winter involves adaptive polymorphism of the couch potato gene.
Asunto(s)
Evolución Biológica , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiología , Estaciones del Año , Estrés Fisiológico , Animales , ClimaRESUMEN
This study links natural variation in a Drosophila melanogaster overwintering strategy, diapause, to the insulin-regulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) gene, Dp110. Variation in diapause, a reproductive arrest, was associated with Dp110 by using Dp110 deletions and genomic rescue fragments in transgenic flies. Deletions of Dp110 increased the proportion of individuals in diapause, whereas expression of Dp110 in the nervous system, but not including the visual system, decreased it. The roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase for both diapause in D. melanogaster and dauer formation in Caenorhabditis elegans suggest a conserved role for this kinase in both reproductive and developmental arrests in response to environmental stresses.
Asunto(s)
Conducta Animal , Drosophila melanogaster/enzimología , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Variación Genética/genética , Insulina/metabolismo , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinasas/genética , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinasas/metabolismo , Animales , Dosificación de Gen/genética , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Neuronas/metabolismo , Fenotipo , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN , Análisis de Secuencia de ARNRESUMEN
Naturally occurring heat shock (HS) during pupation induces abnormal wing development in Drosophila; we examined factors affecting the severity of this induction. The proportion of HS-surviving adults with abnormal wings varied with HS duration and intensity, and with the pupal age or stage at HS administration. Pretreatment (PT), mild hyperthermia delivered before HS, usually protected development against HS. Gradual heating resembling natural thermal regimes also protected wing development against thermal disruption. Because of the roles of the wings in flight and courtship and in view of natural thermal regimes that Drosophila experience, both HS-induction of wing abnormalities and its abatement by PT may have marked effects on Drosophila fitness in nature. Because PT is associated with expression of heat-inducible molecular chaperones such as Hsp70 in Drosophila, we compared thermal disruption of wing development among hsp70 mutants as well as among strains naturally varying in Hsp70 levels. Contrary to expectations, lines or strains with increased Hsp70 levels were no more resistant to HS-disruption of wing development than counterparts with lower Hsp70 levels. In fact, wing development was more resistant to HS in hsp70 deletion strains than control strains. We suggest that, while high Hsp70 levels may aid cells in surviving hyperthermia, high levels may also overly stimulate or inhibit numerous signalling pathways involved in cell proliferation, maturation and programmed death, resulting in developmental failure.