fruitless (gene)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
fruitless
Identifiers
OrganismDrosophila melanogaster
Symbolfru
UniProt
Q8IN81
Other data
Chromosome3R: 14.22 - 14.39 Mb
Search for
StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro

The fruitless gene (fru) is a

muscles needed for fly sexual behaviors.[1] The gene does not have an obvious mammalian homolog, but appears to function in sex determination in species as distant as the mosquito Anopheles gambiae.[2]

fruitless serves as an example of how a gene or a group of genes may regulate the development and/or function of neurons involved in innate behavior. Research on fruitless has received attention in the popular press, since it provokes discussion on genetics of human sexual orientation,[3][4] and behaviors such as gender-specific aggression.[5]

Function

loss-of-function alleles change or remove sexual preference.[1]

Although many genes are known to be involved in male courtship behavior, the fruitless gene has been considered noteworthy because it exhibits sex-specific alternative splicing. When females produce the male-spliced gene product, they behave as males. Males that do not produce the male-specific product do not court females and are infertile.[1] In the brain, a subset (ca. 2,000) of neurons express fruitless[6] and fruitless expression is sufficient to instruct sexually dimorphic connectivity. [7][8]

fruitless has at least four

promoters, each encoding proteins containing both a BTB (Broad complex/tramtrack/bric-a-brac) domain and a zinc finger motif. Alternative splicing occurs at both the 5' and 3' ends, and there are several variants (other than the male- and female-specific splicing patterns).[1] The fruitless gene locus also controls the expression of hundreds of other genes,[9]
any subset of which may actually regulate behavior.

Name

Early work refers to the gene as fruity, an apparent pun on both the common name of D. melanogaster, the fruit fly, as well as a

politically correct. Thus, the gene was re-dubbed fruitless, alluding to the lack of offspring produced by flies with the mutation.[10] However, despite the original name and a continuing history of misleading inferences by the popular media, fruitless mutants primarily show defects in male-female courtship, though certain mutants cause male-male or female-female courtship.[11]

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 14663286
    .
  2. PMID 16319090
    .
  3. ^ Burr C (June 1997). "Homosexuality and Biology, The Genetic Quest". The Atlantic.
  4. ^ Wade N (December 13, 1996). "Mating Game of Fruit Fly Is Traced to a Single Gene". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Sample, Ian (November 20, 2006). "Flies reveal gene that makes girls fight like boys". The Guardian.
  6. PMID 20832311
    .
  7. PMID 24360281
    .
  8. S2CID 4412743
    .
  9. PMID 18039034
    .
  10. PMID 2542123
    .
  11. ^ "GeneBrief - fruitless". InteractiveFly. Society for Developmental Biology.

External links

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