Cinderella of genetics (Drosophila melanogaster): Population genetics to genomics

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster is a well-studied and extremely efficacious genetic model organism in order to analyse several genetic processes common to higher organisms including humans. Little more than a few years back, Drosophila emerges as a prototype for the study of genomics and became the third eukaryote to be fully sequenced and used for the application of complete genome sequencing by whole-genome shotgun in eukaryotic genomes. Almost all of coding portion of the Drosophila genome (approximately 120-megabase) has been determined. Fifty years ago, molecular population genetics originated with the first allozyme loci estimation, progressed with the era of nucleotide sequencing, and are now in the age of population genomics. Many regulatory pathways are maintained in Drosophila compared to humans, making it a strong model for the study of epigenetic mechanisms. Many signalling pathways are conserved between humans and fly that’s why various studies have been successfully conducted in D. melanogaster such as comparative genomics, disease mechanism, toxicogenomic studies, Immunogenetics studies. Here, we offer a brief description of the genetic history of Drosophila. We hope that an acknowledgement of how we got where we are today and an overview of past studies will help to position the current curiosity about molecular population genetics and genomics.