Data from: Epidermal growth factor receptor and transforming growth factor-beta signaling contributes to variation for wing shape in Drosophila melanogaster

Wing development in Drosophila is a common model system for the dissection of genetic networks and their roles during development. In particular, the RTK and TGF-beta regulatory networks appear to be involved with numerous aspects of wing development, including patterning, cell determination, growth, proliferation, and survival in the developing imaginal wing disc. However, little is known as to how subtle changes in the function of these genes may contribute to quantitative variation for wing shape, per se. In this study 50 insertional mutations, representing 43 loci in the RTK, Hedgehog, TGF-beta pathways, and their genetically interacting factors were used to study the role of these networks on wing shape. To concurrently examine how genetic background modulates the effects of the mutation, each insertion was introgressed into two wild-type genetic backgrounds. Using geometric morphometric methods, it is shown that the majority of these mutations have profound effects on shape but not size of the wing when measured as heterozygotes. To examine the relationships between how each mutation affects wing shape hierarchical clustering was used. Unlike previous observations of environmental canalization, these mutations did not generally increase within-line variation relative to their wild-type counterparts. These results provide an entry point into the genetics of wing shape and are discussed within the framework of the dissection of complex phenotypes.

果蝇（Drosophila）翅膀发育是解析遗传网络及其在发育过程中功能的经典模型系统。具体而言，受体酪氨酸激酶（RTK）、刺猬（Hedgehog）与转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）调控网络参与了翅膀发育的诸多环节，包括发育中成虫翅盘的模式形成、细胞命运决定、生长、增殖与存活。然而，目前对于这些基因功能的细微变化如何直接导致翅膀形状的数量性状变异，尚缺乏深入了解。本研究选取了50个插入突变，涵盖RTK、Hedgehog、TGF-β通路中的43个基因座及其遗传互作因子，用以探究这些调控网络对翅膀形状的影响。为同时探究遗传背景如何调控突变的表型效应，本研究将每个插入突变分别导入两种野生型遗传背景中。借助几何形态测量法（geometric morphometric methods）分析发现，在杂合状态下检测时，绝大多数此类突变对翅膀形状具有显著影响，但对翅膀大小无明显作用。为探究各突变对翅膀形状的影响模式之间的关联，本研究采用了系统聚类分析方法。与此前关于环境表型稳态的研究结论不同，相较于野生型对照，此类突变总体上并未增加品系内的表型变异。本研究结果为解析翅膀形状的遗传基础提供了切入点，并将在复杂表型解析的研究框架下对结果展开讨论。