Black Sheep of the Drosophila Family

     Understanding genetics and the animal genome is the ongoing journey to understand all of this world's living organisms, and to understand their capacity to grow and change. A certain organism has become a key component to facilitate this process; the fruit fly. 

     Under the family of Drosophilinae, the fruit fly has many excellent qualities that makes it an ideal specimen. It is easy and inexpensive to culture in a lab, has a short generation time, and has a high production of offspring, which can be modified, genetically, from the laid embryos. This makes it an efficient subject to study. Using Drosophila, scientists have a better understanding the role genes play in the development of a single cell embryo into a multi-cellular organism, not just for a fruit fly, but for all animals, including humans. Even though it is obviously clear that humans differ greatly from Drosophila, many of the underlying genetic foundations have been conserved through evolution and are very similar.  For well over 100 years, the fruit fly has been a successful tool in discovering monumental genetic information, including genetics and inheritance, learning behavior, and aging. A great deal of our understanding of biological concepts, example being tissue regeneration, comes from experiments using model specimens, such as the Drosophila. 

Drosophila grimshawi

12 sequenced Drosophila 

      There are hundreds of species of Drosophila, and, as shown above, each species differs from the others with distinct attributes. One however, the largest of the sequenced species is the most more unlike the others. 

     Drosophila grimshawi, more commonly known as the Hawaiian Fruit Fly is more diverse than any of its cousins. From the picture above, you can see the physiological differences from the other species, such as its larger size and its uniquely patterned wings. It also has a more noticeable pattern on its thorax and abdomen than can be seen from the other eleven sequenced species. This specific species of Drosophila occupies mainly five of the Hawaiian Islands (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Lanai). It prefers the mountainous rain forests and has a taste for bananas and mushrooms. However, its looks and food preferences are not what makes this little bug most interesting.

     Studies have found a bizarre key detail about D. grimshawi that proves most intriguing; there is not any speciation, with very little genetic differentiation. This particular species maintains its morphology throughout the five islands where it can be easily found. What makes this so interesting is that it goes against the norm of the other Hawaiian flies. This makes D. grimshawi an anomaly. Anomalies need to be researched, and solved.