A study led by researchers at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Barcelona (UB) – with experts participation at the University of Göttingen (Germany) and Durham and Oxford Brookes universities (United Kingdom) – reveals how minimum changes in a single gene can cause important differences in the size of the eyes.
The results of this study were published in the magazine BMC Biology. The work was carried out with the investigation of two species of closely related flies, Drosophila mauritiana y Drosophila simulanswhich are reference models in evolutionary biology studies.
The team of scientists discovered that a minimum change in the expression phase of a gene called Orthodenticle (OTD) can cause a significant difference in the size of the ommatides, which are the individual units in a hexagonal form that constitute a compound eye in these insects.
In the fly Drosophila mauritianathe OTD gene is expressed before in the ocular development process that in the fly Drosophila simulans; And this is associated with an increase in the size of the ommatides of the first fly and therefore, the eyes of this species are larger.
According to one of the researchers who participated in this study by the UB Isabel Almudi, they were surprised to discover that such a small change in genetic expression can have such a shocking effect on the size of the eyes.
This suggests that the evolution of the size of the eyes can be much simpler than the researchers point out so far.
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Changes in the rhythm of biological development of the gene
The gene expression is the process by which the information encoded by a gene is capable of generating a functional result, for example, the production of a protein.
In this context, phenomena related to heterochrony are very important, that is, the modifications or changes in the rhythm of the development processes that generate major evolutionary changes.
However, little is known about the molecular and genetic mechanisms that drive these changes during development.
How other organs evolve
Scientists consider that their research could have implications when understanding how other organs of the body evolve.
This results in that from now on they can investigate whether there are similar changes in gene expression that can produce differences in size in other organs, such as brain.
With EFE information.
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