一项新研究发现，一个单独的基因就能够将一个温顺的果蝇变成一个好斗的战士。美国加州圣地亚哥神经科学研究所的Ralph Greenspan和Herman Dierick将果蝇养育成好战份子。
在繁育21代后，战斗能力指数测量结果表明，这些果蝇的侵略性比对照高出30倍。不但这些果蝇变得更加好斗，而且他们还变得更加凶猛、爱搏斗并且对敌人表现的更加厌恶。
通过对它们基因组的分析，研究人员发现这些好斗果蝇头部表达了高水平的一种叫做CYP6a20的酶。编码这种酶的是一个单独的基因。这些发现刊登在近期大的Nature子刊《自然－遗传学》杂志上（Nature Genetics, DOI:10.1038/ng1864）。
在15年手测饲养出好战派果蝇的澳大利亚墨尔本大学教授Ary Hoffmann指出，许多基因都在侵略性中扮演一定的角色。发现一个单独的基因掌控着好斗性的大部分是非产令人惊讶的。这种酶还可能有助于降解信息素，并且增加了有关发现对手的能力能够引发好斗行为理论的证据。
英文原文：
A single gene can turn a docile fly into a fighter
Ralph Greenspan and Herman Dierick of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, bred fruit flies to be aggressive. After 21 generations, they were 30 times more aggressive than controls, as measured by an index of fighting ability. Not only did they start more fights, and ones that lasted longer, they were also fiercer, wrestling and flipping opponents rather than just chasing and hitting them.
An analysis of their genome revealed that the aggressive flies expressed higher levels of an enzyme called CYP6a20 in their heads. The enzyme is produced by a single gene (Nature Genetics, DOI: 10.1038/ng1864).
Many genes would be expected to play a role in aggression, says Ary Hoffmann of the University of Melbourne, Australia, who first bred flies to be fighters 15 years ago. To find just one gene that accounts for a large amount of the aggression "is pretty impressive", he says. The enzyme may also help break down pheromones, adding to evidence that an ability to sniff out rivals can trigger aggressive behaviour.
