Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2002 Jan 22;269(1487):127–135. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1872

Variable modes of inheritance of morphometrical traits in hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans.

J R David 1, P Gibert 1, G Pétavy 1, B Moreteau 1
PMCID: PMC1690874  PMID: 11798427

Abstract

We investigated body-size inheritance in interspecific sterile hybrids by crossing a Drosophila simulans strain with 13 strains of Drosophila melanogaster, which were of various origins and chosen for their broad range of genetic variation. A highly significant parent-offspring correlation was observed, showing that the D. melanogaster genes for size are still expressed in a hybrid background. Superimposed on to this additive inheritance, the size of hybrids was always less than the mid-parent value. This phenomenon, which at first sight might be described as dominance or overdominance, is more precisely interpreted as a consequence of a hybrid breakdown, that is, a dysfunction of the parental genes for size when put to work together. This interpretation is enforced by the fact that phenotypic variability was much more prevalent in hybrids than in parents. We also analysed body pigmentation inheritance in the same crosses and got a very different picture. There was no increase in the phenotypic variance of F(1) hybrids and only a low parent-offspring correlation. Apparent overdominance could be observed but in opposite directions, with no evidence of hybrid breakdown. Our data point to the possibility of analysing a diversity of quantitative traits in interspecific hybrids, and indicate that breakdown might be restricted to some traits only.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (281.3 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Allen Orr H. The genetics of species differences. Trends Ecol Evol. 2001 Jul 1;16(7):343–350. doi: 10.1016/s0169-5347(01)02167-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barbash D. A., Roote J., Ashburner M. The Drosophila melanogaster hybrid male rescue gene causes inviability in male and female species hybrids. Genetics. 2000 Apr;154(4):1747–1771. doi: 10.1093/genetics/154.4.1747. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barton N. H., Hewitt G. M. Adaptation, speciation and hybrid zones. Nature. 1989 Oct 12;341(6242):497–503. doi: 10.1038/341497a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Biddle R L. The Bristles of Hybrids between DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER and DROSOPHILA SIMULANS. Genetics. 1932 Mar;17(2):153–174. doi: 10.1093/genetics/17.2.153. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cariou M. L. Biochemical phylogeny of the eight species in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup, including D. sechellia and D. orena. Genet Res. 1987 Dec;50(3):181–185. doi: 10.1017/s0016672300023673. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Coyne J. A., Beecham E. Heritability of two morphological characters within and among natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1987 Dec;117(4):727–737. doi: 10.1093/genetics/117.4.727. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coyne J. A., Rux J., David J. R. Genetics of morphological differences and hybrid sterility between Drosophila sechellia and its relatives. Genet Res. 1991 Apr;57(2):113–122. doi: 10.1017/s0016672300029177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Coyne J. A., Simeonidis S., Rooney P. Relative paucity of genes causing inviability in hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. Genetics. 1998 Nov;150(3):1091–1103. doi: 10.1093/genetics/150.3.1091. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Das A., Mohanty S., Capy P., David J. R. Mating propensity of Indian Drosophila melanogaster populations with D. simulans: a nonadaptive latitudinal cline. Heredity (Edinb) 1995 May;74(Pt 5):562–566. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1995.78. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. David J., Lemeunier F., Tsacas L., Bocquet C. Hybridation d'une nouvelle espèce, Drosophila mauritiana avec D. melanogaster et D. simulans. Ann Genet. 1974 Dec;17(4):235–241. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gibert P., Moreteau B., Munjal A., David J. R. Phenotypic plasticity of abdominal pigmentation in Drosophila kikkawai: multiple interactions between a major gene, sex, abdomen segment and growth temperature. Genetica. 1999;105(2):165–176. doi: 10.1023/a:1003704315194. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gilchrist A. S., Partridge L. A comparison of the genetic basis of wing size divergence in three parallel body size clines of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1999 Dec;153(4):1775–1787. doi: 10.1093/genetics/153.4.1775. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Harr B., Zangerl B., Brem G., Schlötterer C. Conservation of locus-specific microsatellite variability across species: a comparison of two Drosophila sibling species, D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Mol Biol Evol. 1998 Feb;15(2):176–184. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025913. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hutter P., Ashburner M. Genetic rescue of inviable hybrids between Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species. 1987 May 28-Jun 3Nature. 327(6120):331–333. doi: 10.1038/327331a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Imasheva A. G., Bubli O. A., Lazebny O. E. Variation in wing length in Eurasian natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity (Edinb) 1994 May;72(Pt 5):508–514. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1994.68. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. James A. C., Azevedo R. B., Partridge L. Genetic and environmental responses to temperature of Drosophila melanogaster from a latitudinal cline. Genetics. 1997 Jul;146(3):881–890. doi: 10.1093/genetics/146.3.881. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Laurie C. C., True J. R., Liu J., Mercer J. M. An introgression analysis of quantitative trait loci that contribute to a morphological difference between Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana. Genetics. 1997 Feb;145(2):339–348. doi: 10.1093/genetics/145.2.339. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Markow T. A., Ricker J. P. Developmental stability in hybrids between the sibling species pair, Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. Genetica. 1991;84(2):115–121. doi: 10.1007/BF00116551. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Orr H. A., Madden L. D., Coyne J. A., Goodwin R., Hawley R. S. The developmental genetics of hybrid inviability: a mitotic defect in Drosophila hybrids. Genetics. 1997 Apr;145(4):1031–1040. doi: 10.1093/genetics/145.4.1031. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. R'Kha S., Capy P., David J. R. Host-plant specialization in the Drosophila melanogaster species complex: a physiological, behavioral, and genetical analysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Mar 1;88(5):1835–1839. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.5.1835. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sawamura K., Davis A. W., Wu C. I. Genetic analysis of speciation by means of introgression into Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Mar 14;97(6):2652–2655. doi: 10.1073/pnas.050558597. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Sawamura K., Watanabe T. K., Yamamoto M. T. Hybrid lethal systems in the Drosophila melanogaster species complex. Genetica. 1993;88(2-3):175–185. doi: 10.1007/BF02424474. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sturtevant A H. Genetic Studies on DROSOPHILA SIMULANS. I. Introduction. Hybrids with DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. Genetics. 1920 Sep;5(5):488–500. doi: 10.1093/genetics/5.5.488. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Van 't Land J., Van Putten W. F., Villarroel H., Kamping A., Van Delden W. Latitudinal variation for two enzyme loci and an inversion polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster from Central and South America. Evolution. 2000 Feb;54(1):201–209. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Vetukhiv M. Viability of Hybrids Between Local Populations of Drosophila Pseudoobscura. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1953 Jan;39(1):30–34. doi: 10.1073/pnas.39.1.30. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES