2010: A Century of Drosophila Genetics Through the Prism of the white Gene

Abstract

In January 1910, a century ago, Thomas Hunt Morgan discovered his first Drosophila mutant, a white-eyed male (Morgan 1910). Morgan named the mutant gene white and soon demonstrated that it resided on the X chromosome. This was the first localization of a specific gene to a particular chromosome. Thus began Drosophila experimental genetics. The story of the initial work on white is well known but what is less well appreciated is the multiplicity of ways in which this gene has been used to explore fundamental questions in genetics. Here, I review some of the highlights of a century's productive use of white in Drosophila genetics.

The most popular genes in the human genome

“…Because its product causes an easily observable change in the fly, the white gene serves as a marker for scientists looking to map and manipulate the fly genome. It has been involved in many fundamental discoveries 12 , such as the demonstration that large stretches of DNA can be duplicated because of unequal exchange between matching chromosomes.…”

Witnessing Evolution First Hand: A K–12 Laboratory Exercise in Genetics & Evolution Using Drosophila

“…These laboratory exercises build on a classic genetics example dating back more than 100 years (Morgan, 1910;Green, 2010) and on student interest and engagement in genetics to demonstrate basic principles of both genetics and evolution using a living model system. In the end, students will have a greater understanding of inheritance (including X-chromosome linkage) and will have literally observed evolution by natural selection within their class.…”

Mapping an Atlas of Tissue-Specific Drosophila melanogaster Metabolomes by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

“…Of the metazoans, D. melanogaster offers perhaps the best balance between genetic tractability, availability of well-characterised genetic mutant stocks, and organismal complexity [5], [6]. Some mutations in metabolic pathways have been studied for nearly a century [7] and interactions with, and epistatic interactions between, similar mutations, established. In previous work we have looked at the impact of the ry , cho, y and ma-l mutations on the Drosophila metabolome [1]–[3].…”