Polymorphism at the Adh and αGpdh loci in Drosophila melanogaster: effects of rearing temperature on developmental rate, body weight, and some biochemical parameters

Abstract

The role of developmental time in the world-wide dine of Adh and a Gpdh allele frequencies of Drosophila melanogaster, and the relationship with weight and some biochemical characters, were investigated. Experimental strains were constructed with different combinations of Adh and aGpdh alleles but with similar genetic background. Developmental time, adult weight, protein-and triglyceride-content, and ADH and aGPDH enzyme activity were measured at a rearing temperature of 20, 25 and 29°C. Genotype effects were found in all studied characters. In general the developmental times of genotypes were: Ad/IFF < Adh' <Adhss and a Gpdh'> a GpdhFS = aGpdhSS. Developmental time and adult weight were strongly affected by rearing temperature.Triglyceride content and ADFI and a GPDH enzyme activity were slightly affected by temperature. Interactions between genotype and temperature effects were found for developmental rate, adult weight and protein content. No trade off was observed between developmental time on the one hand and adult weight, protein-and triglyceride-content, and ADH and a GPDH enzyme activity on the other hand. It is argued that developmental rate differences might be one of the underlying mechanisms of the world-wide dine of the Adh and a GPdh allele frequencies.Keywords: Adh, a Gpdh, developmental time, Drosophila melanogaster, temperature, weight. IntroductionThe alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) and a-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (a Gpdh) loci are two of the most extensively studied allozyme systems of Drosophila melanogaster. They provide an excellent opportunity to study interactions between physiological effects of gene-enzyme systems. Both loci have two common electrophoretic alleles: AdhF, Adhs, aGpdh' and aGpdhS. Nearly all natural populations are polymorphic for both loci. The frequencies of these alleles show world-wide clinal variation: the frequencies of Adhs and aGpdhF decrease with increasing latitude (Oakeshott et al., 1982). An important question is whether these dines are under the control of natural selection. Correlation analysis of climatic data revealed no consistent significant correlations (Anderson et a!., 1987). In the laboratory, stress from alcohol or temperature can cause differential selection of Adh and aGpdh alleles (e.g. Van Delden, 1982; Zera et a!., 1985). Under normal laboratory conditions equilibrium selection has been demonstrated for Adh (Bijisma-Meeles & Bijlsma, 1988) and aGpdh (Palabost-Charles, 1980). Selection at temperatures between 25 and 30°C may lead to an increase of the Adhs and aGpdh' alleles (Alahiotis, 1982;Van Delden, 1984). Vigue et al. (1982) and Oakeshott et al. (1985), however, found no effect of temperature on Adh or aGpdh allele frequencies. Van Delden (1984) and Van Delden & Kamping (1989) ascribe the advantage of the Adhs and aGpdhF alleles at a higher temperature, for the greater part, to linkage of both alleles with the inversion In(2L)t.Differences in developmental time between genotypes may be an important underlying mechanism of selection. D...

A Roadmap for Bridging Basic and Applied Research in Forensic Entomology

“…There are repeated occurrences among Drosophila species of population-based differences in development times and body size (71,73,95,98,136). Some of the most striking observations are chromosomal inversions exhibiting population frequencies that strongly correlate with latitudinal clines of body size.…”

Triglyceride Pools, Flight and Activity Variation at the Gpdh Locus in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Even though there are numerous studies of the GPDH protein polymorphism, no clear consensus has emerged about its phenotypic consequences (see, for example, McKechnie and Geer 1988;Barnes et al 1989;Oudman et al 1991Oudman et al , 1994. However, the general difficulty in these studies is that linked genetic background confounds both the interpretation of and the statistical power to assess phenotypic consequences.…”

Variation of allozyme loci in populations of Drosophila melanogaster from the former USSR

“…Therefore, it was hypothesized that temperature had also various indirect effects on allozyme genotypes. For instance, selection might maintain the Adh dines through a higher developmental rate of the Adh-FF genotypes as a result of higher enzyme activity of ADH-F (Oudman et a!., 1991).…”