Skip to main content
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1985 Apr;109(4):665–689. doi: 10.1093/genetics/109.4.665

Temperature-Related Divergence in Experimental Populations of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. I. Genetic and Developmental Basis of Wing Size and Shape Variation

Sandro Cavicchi 1, Daniela Guerra 1, Gianfranco Giorgi 1, Cristina Pezzoli 1
PMCID: PMC1202501  PMID: 17246257

Abstract

The effects of environmental temperature on wing size and shape of Drosophila melanogaster were analyzed in populations derived from an Oregon laboratory strain kept at three temperatures (18°, 25°, 28°) for 4 yr. Temperature-directed selection was identified for both wing size and shape. The length of the four longitudinal veins, used as a test for wing size variations in the different populations, appears to be affected by both genetic and maternal influences. Vein expression appears to be dependent upon developmental pattern of the wing: veins belonging to the same compartment are coordinated in their expression and relative position, whereas veins belonging to different compartments are not. Both wing and cell areas show genetic divergence, particularly in the posterior compartment. Cell number seems to compensate for cell size variations. Such compensation is carried out both at the level of single organisms and at the level of population as a whole. The two compartments behave as individual units of selection.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.4 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Atchley W. R. M--statistics and morphometric divergence. Science. 1980 May 30;208(4447):1059–1060. doi: 10.1126/science.208.4447.1059. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. David J. R., Bocquet C. Evolution in a cosmopolitan species: genetic latitudinal clines in Drosophila melanogaster wild populations. Experientia. 1975 Feb 15;31(2):164–166. doi: 10.1007/BF01990682. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. David J. R., Bocquet C. Similarities and differences in latitudinal adaptation of two Drosophila sibling species. Nature. 1975 Oct 16;257(5527):588–590. doi: 10.1038/257588a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Garcia-Bellido A., Merriam J. R. Parameters of the wing imaginal disc development of Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol. 1971 Jan;24(1):61–87. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(71)90047-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Garcia-Bellido A., Ripoll P., Morata G. Developmental compartmentalisation of the wing disk of Drosophila. Nat New Biol. 1973 Oct 24;245(147):251–253. doi: 10.1038/newbio245251a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Garcia-Bellido A., Ripoll P., Morata G. Developmental compartmentalization in the dorsal mesothoracic disc of Drosophila. Dev Biol. 1976 Jan;48(1):132–147. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(76)90052-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Robertson F W. Studies in Quantitative Inheritance. Xii. Cell Size and Number in Relation to Genetic and Environmental Variation of Body Size in Drosophila. Genetics. 1959 Sep;44(5):869–896. doi: 10.1093/genetics/44.5.869. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES