Gene duplication, tissue-specific gene expression and sexual conflict in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae).

ABSTRACT: Gene duplication provides an essential source of novel genetic material to facilitate rapid morphological evolution. Traits involved in reproduction and sexual dimorphism represent some of the fastest evolving traits in nature, and gene duplication is intricately involved in the origin and evolution of these traits. Here, we review genomic research on stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae) that has been used to examine the extent of gene duplication and its role in the genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism. Stalk-eyed flies are remarkable because of the elongation of the head into long stalks, with the eyes and antenna laterally displaced at the ends of these stalks. Many species are strongly sexually dimorphic for eyespan, and these flies have become a model system for studying sexual selection

SUBMITTER: Baker RH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3391427 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature