Enhanced flight performance by genetic manipulation of wing shape in Drosophila

Insect wing shapes are remarkably diverse and the combination of shape and kinematics determines both aerial capabilities and power requirements. However, the contribution of any specific morphological feature to performance is not known. Using targeted RNA interference to modify wing shape far beyond the natural variation found within the population of a single species, we show a direct effect on flight performance that can be explained by physical modelling of the novel wing geometry. Our data show that altering the expression of a single gene can significantly enhance aerial agility and that the Drosophila wing shape is not, therefore, optimized for certain flight performance characteristics that are known to be important. Our technique points in a new direction for experiments on the evolution of performance specialities in animals.昆虫翅形的多样性极为丰富，翅形与运动学特征的共同组合同时决定了昆虫的飞行能力与能量需求。然而，目前学界尚未明确任一特定形态特征对飞行性能的具体贡献。本研究通过靶向RNA干扰（RNA interference, RNAi）技术，将单一物种种群内的翅形自然变异范围大幅拓展，证实其对飞行性能存在直接影响，且该效应可通过新型翅形几何结构的物理建模得到解释。本研究数据显示，调控单个基因的表达可显著提升飞行机动性，因此果蝇（Drosophila）的翅形并非针对已知的关键飞行性能特征进行优化的。本研究采用的技术为动物飞行性能特化演化相关实验指明了全新方向。