Studies of Myc super-competition and clonal growth in Drosophila males and females

Cell competition is a cell selection process that arises in growing tissues as a result of interactions between cells of different fitness. This behavior is also observed in Myc super-competition, where healthy wild type cells in growing wing discs of Drosophila are outcompeted by nearby cells that express higher levels of the Myc oncogene. Most work on Myc super-competition has examined it in mixed populations of male and female larvae. However, as physiological and genetic differences between Drosophila males and females could affect the competitive behavior of cells, we have investigated whether sex differences affect the process. Here we show that both male and female wing disc cells are subject to Myc super-competition. Female disc cells appear to be more sensitive to competitive elimination than male cells, potentially due to differences in baseline cellular Myc levels between the sexes. We also report sexual dimorphism of cell size and number between male and female growing wing discs that is independent of competition; wing discs and wing pouches from females are larger than males’ due to larger cell size and cell number. We suggest that separately examining male and female tissues in cell competition assays could enhance our understanding of the effects of sex-specific pathways on cell and super-competition.