Functional correlates of positional and gender-specific renal asymmetry in Drosophila

Chintapalli, Venkateswara R and Terhzaz, Selim and Wang, Jing and Al Bratty, Mohammed and Watson, David G and Herzyk, Pawel and Davies, Shireen A and Dow, Julian A T (2012) Functional correlates of positional and gender-specific renal asymmetry in Drosophila. PLOS One, 7 (4). e32577. (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032577)

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Abstract

In humans and other animals, the internal organs are positioned asymmetrically in the body cavity, and disruption of this body plan can be fatal in humans. The mechanisms by which internal asymmetry are established are presently the subject of intense study; however, the functional significance of internal asymmetry (outside the brain) is largely unexplored. Is internal asymmetry functionally significant, or merely an expedient way of packing organs into a cavity?