Cytotaxonomic differentiation of the Afrotropical Drosophila montium subgroup: D. diplacantha and D. seguyi. The major role of reverse tandem duplications

Abstract

Aiming to establish phylogenetic relationships among species of the montium subgroup, detailed polytene chromosome maps are given showing intraspecific polymorphism and ecdysone induced larval puffing pattern profiles of two Afrotropical members of this subgroup, Drosophila diplacantha and D. seguyi. Both species exhibit two unique characteristics that define the montium subgroup, namely, a large number of reverse tandem duplications and a progressive darkening of anterior spiracles of the late third instar larvae, which is accompanied by a definite temporal and spatial puffing pattern of the salivary gland chromosomes. In contrast with the well-formed Balbiani ring 1 (BR1) observed in Oriental and Indian montium species, BR1 exhibits a different developmental profile in D. diplacantha, while it is obscured in D. seguyi. Although phyletic comparisons of five species from five different complexes within the subgroup show some conservation in banding and puffing pattern homologies, an analysis to assign map sections by sequential rearrangements remains unresolved at this time. The evolution of the subgroup is discussed in relation with the sharing of reverse tandem duplications, especially those including the montium BRs.