Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1977 Feb;85(2):319–329. doi: 10.1093/genetics/85.2.319

Enzyme and Chromosome Polymorphisms in Japanese Natural Populations of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Takao K Watanabe 1, Taishu Watanabe 1
PMCID: PMC1213635  PMID: 405274

Abstract

Collections of D. melanogaster from Japanese populations were analyzed for enzyme and chromosomal polymorphisms. Allelic frequencies at the Adh and αGpd loci were compared with polymorphic inversion (In(2L)B, In(2R)C) frequencies in the second chromosome. There was a significant positive correlation between the frequencies of AdhS and In(2L)B, caused by linkage. On the other hand, inversion-free cage populations maintained in the laboratory for a long time showed considerably larger variation in the frequencies of these enzyme alleles, which seem very likely to be a consequence of random drift. Two fitness components of these enzyme and chromosomal variants were measured in two different environmental conditions; neither of the two loci showed heterozygote superiority in viability or productivity, while the inversion heterozygotes showed a superior productivity compared to the corresponding homozygotes in the fluctuating environment. These findings are compatible with the hypothesis that polymorphic isozyme genes are maintained by random drift of neutral genes in natural populations, and that association with linked inversions is a historical accident.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (688.0 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Ayala F. J., Powell J. R., Dobzhansky T. Polymorphisms in continental and island populations of Drosophila willistoni. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Oct;68(10):2480–2483. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.10.2480. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Kimura M., Ohta T. Protein polymorphism as a phase of molecular evolution. Nature. 1971 Feb 12;229(5285):467–469. doi: 10.1038/229467a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Kojima K., Gillespie J., Toari Y. N. A profile of Drosophila species' enzymes assayed by electrophoresis. I. Number of alleles, heterozygosities, and linkage disequilibrium in glucose-metabolizing systems and some other enzymes. Biochem Genet. 1970 Oct;4(5):627–637. doi: 10.1007/BF00486100. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Mukai T., Mettler L. E., Chigusa S. I. Linkage disequilibrium in a local population of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 May;68(5):1065–1069. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.5.1065. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Muki T., Watanabe T. K., Yamaguchi O. The genetic structure of natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. XII. Linkage disequilibrium in a large local population. Genetics. 1974 Aug;77(4):771–793. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.4.771. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Powell J. R. Apparent selection of enzyme alleles in laboratory populations of Drosophila. Genetics. 1973 Nov;75(3):557–570. doi: 10.1093/genetics/75.3.557. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Prakash S., Lewontin R. C. A molecular approach to the study of genic heterozygosity in natural populations. 3. Direct evidence of coadaptation in gene arrangements of Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1968 Feb;59(2):398–405. doi: 10.1073/pnas.59.2.398. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES