Can Male Fruit Flies Have White Eyes?

The color of fruit flies’ eyes is determined by genes on the X chromosome. Male fruit flies are hemizygous, meaning that they carry only one copy of the eye-color gene, while females have two copies. As such, reciprocal crosses will produce different ratios of offspring.

The eyes of fruit flies are usually red, sepia, or white. These different color patterns are caused by mutations in specific genes. These genes control how the various parts of a fruit fly develop. Similar to human genes, these genes determine things like the size of the brainstem, the number of fingers and toes, and other traits.

In the early 20th century, Thomas Hunt Morgan, a geneticist at Columbia University, noticed that certain groups of fruit flies had white eyes. He bred these flies and observed their offspring. From these observations, Morgan was able to predict the ratio of the sex-specific chromosomes in his offspring. To test this hypothesis, Morgan bred a white-eyed male with a red-eyed female and watched the offspring grow. Morgan also noticed that the eye color mutation is passed down through generations.

This experiment is designed for students to observe evolution in action. Using Drosophila simulans as a genetic model organism, it demonstrates how mutations cause phenotypic changes. The white eye phenotype is caused by mutations in the pigment pathway. This mutation was discovered by Thomas Hunt Morgan in 1910.

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