Evolution of patterns of gene expression in hawaiian picture-winged Drosophila

The tissue and stage specificity of expression of five enzymes was examined by electrophoretic analysis of relative enzyme levels in extracts of 13 larval and adult tissues in 27 species of Hawaiian picture-winged Drosophila. The developmentally regulated patterns of enzyme expression thus characterized were compared to a modal standard phenotype. About 30% of the pattern features analyzed differed significantly from the standard in one or more species. Many of these regulatory differences are essentially qualitative, with tissue specific differences in enzyme activity in excess of 100 fold for some species pairs. The adaptive significance of these pattern differences in unknown, but the results provide strong direct evidence for rapid evolution of new patterns of gene regulation in this group of organisms.