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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
07:57
Malachite Green Assay for the Discovery of Heat-Shock Protein 90 Inhibitors
Published on: January 20, 2023
Control of canalization and evolvability by Hsp90.
Claire C Milton1, Christina M Ulane, Suzannah Rutherford
1Center for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Plos One
|December 22, 2006
Summary
Reducing Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) increases variation in discrete traits, boosting evolvability. However, effects on individuals are unpredictable, highlighting trait-specific developmental mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) is known to influence morphological novelty in qualitative traits.
- Its role in controlling adaptive changes in quantitative traits, especially in natural populations, remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of Hsp90 on quantitative trait variability.
- To determine how Hsp90 loss-of-function impacts genetic, stochastic, and environmental components of variation in Drosophila.
Main Methods:
- Deconstruction of variation components in Drosophila wing and bristle traits.
- Comparison between Hsp90 loss-of-function and wild-type alleles in genetically matched flies.
- Analysis across wild population genotypes and laboratory strains.
Main Results:
- Hsp90 buffering is specific to discrete quantitative traits, like bristle number, which are threshold traits.
- Continuously variable traits (bristle types, wing size, asymmetry) were largely unaffected.
- Impaired Hsp90 increased heritability and extrinsic evolvability, but effects on individuals were unpredictable.
Conclusions:
- Hsp90's bias towards invariant traits suggests trait-specific mechanisms of canalization and evolvability.
- Non-linear responses and thresholds influence Hsp90's buffering and variability.
- Understanding Hsp90's role is crucial for evolutionary developmental biology and predicting trait responses to environmental changes.
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