- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text (PDF)
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Coyne, J. A.
- Articles by Beecham, E.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Coyne, J. A.
- Articles by Beecham, E.
Heritability of Two Morphological Characters Within and Among Natural Populations of Drosophila melanogaster
Jerry A. Coyne 1 and Edward Beecham 1
1 Department of Zoology, The University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland 20742
Heritabilities of wing length and abdominal bristle number, as well as genetic correlations between these characters, were determined within and among populations of Drosophila melanogaster in nature. Substantial "natural" heritabilities were found when wild-caught flies from one population were compared to their laboratory-reared offspring. Natural heritabilities of bristle number approximated those derived from laboratory-raised parents and offspring, but wing length heritability was significantly lower in nature than in the laboratory. Among-population heritabilities, estimated by regressing population means of wild-caught flies against those of their laboratory-reared descendants, were close to 0.5. The genetic differentiation of populations was clinal with latitude, and was accompanied by significant geographic differences in the norms of reaction to temperature. These clines are similar to those reported on other continents and in other Drosophila species, and are almost certainly caused by natural selection. Genetic regressions between the characters reveal that the cline in bristle number may be a correlated response to geographic selection on wing length, but not vice versa. Our results indicate that there is a sizable genetic component to phenotypic variation within and among populations of D. melanogaster in nature.
Submitted on February 19, 1987Accepted on August 31, 1987
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  J. D. Jensen, V. L. Bauer DuMont, A. B. Ashmore, A. Gutierrez, and C. F. Aquadro Patterns of Sequence Variability and Divergence at the diminutive Gene Region of Drosophila melanogaster: Complex Patterns Suggest an Ancestral Selective Sweep Genetics, October 1, 2007; 177(2): 1071 - 1085. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. J. Kennington, A. A. Hoffmann, and L. Partridge Mapping Regions Within Cosmopolitan Inversion In(3R)Payne Associated With Natural Variation in Body Size in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, September 1, 2007; 177(1): 549 - 556. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. L. Andrew, R. Peakall, I. R. Wallis, J. T. Wood, E. J. Knight, and W. J. Foley Marker-Based Quantitative Genetics in the Wild?: The Heritability and Genetic Correlation of Chemical Defenses in Eucalyptus Genetics, December 1, 2005; 171(4): 1989 - 1998. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. A. Umina, A. R. Weeks, M. R. Kearney, S. W. McKechnie, and A. A. Hoffmann A Rapid Shift in a Classic Clinal Pattern in Drosophila Reflecting Climate Change Science, April 29, 2005; 308(5722): 691 - 693. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Petfield, S. F. Chenoweth, H. D. Rundle, and M. W. Blows Genetic variance in female condition predicts indirect genetic variance in male sexual display traits PNAS, April 26, 2005; 102(17): 6045 - 6050. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Dworkin, A. Palsson, and G. Gibson Replication of an Egfr-Wing Shape Association in a Wild-Caught Cohort of Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, April 1, 2005; 169(4): 2115 - 2125. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. W. Gilchrist and R. B. Huey Plastic and Genetic Variation in Wing Loading as a Function of Temperature Within and Among Parallel Clines in Drosophila subobscura Integr. Comp. Biol., December 1, 2004; 44(6): 461 - 470. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Sezgin, D. D. Duvernell, L. M. Matzkin, Y. Duan, C.-T. Zhu, B. C. Verrelli, and W. F. Eanes Single-Locus Latitudinal Clines and Their Relationship to Temperate Adaptation in Metabolic Genes and Derived Alleles in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, October 1, 2004; 168(2): 923 - 931. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. Robin, R. F. Lyman, A. D. Long, C. H. Langley, and T. F. C. Mackay hairy: A Quantitative Trait Locus for Drosophila Sensory Bristle Number Genetics, September 1, 2002; 162(1): 155 - 164. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. S. Wilson Geographic variation in thermal sensitivity of jumping performance in the frog Limnodynastes peronii J. Exp. Biol., March 14, 2002; 204(24): 4227 - 4236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Gockel, W. J. Kennington, A. Hoffmann, D. B. Goldstein, and L. Partridge Nonclinality of Molecular Variation Implicates Selection in Maintaining a Morphological Cline of Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, May 1, 2001; 158(1): 319 - 323. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. C. Verrelli and W. F. Eanes Clinal Variation for Amino Acid Polymorphisms at the Pgm Locus in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, April 1, 2001; 157(4): 1649 - 1663. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Sanchez, M. A. Toro, and C. García Improving the Efficiency of Artificial Selection: More Selection Pressure With Less Inbreeding Genetics, March 1, 1999; 151(3): 1103 - 1114. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. A. Coyne, S. Simeonidis, and P. Rooney Relative Paucity of Genes Causing Inviability in Hybrids Between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans Genetics, November 1, 1998; 150(3): 1091 - 1103. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|