Quantitative morphometrical analysis of a North African population of Drosophila melanogaster: sexual dimorphism, and comparison with European populations

Journal of genetics

J. R. David2 3¹  H. Negoua²  M. Chakir²  B. Moreteau¹ 

[1] Laboratoire Evolution, Génomes et Spéciation (LEGS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 9034, Avenue de la Terrasse 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, University Paris-Sud 11, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France$$;Laboratoire Aliment, Environnement et Santé, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cadi Ayyad, BP 618, Marrakesh, Morocco$$

关键词: body size;    body shape;    wing/thorax ratio;    sternopleural bristles;    abdominal bristles;    abdomen pigmentation;    correlations;    temperature adaptation.;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Indian Academy of Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Genetic variability of quantitative traits was investigated in aMoroccan population of Drosophila melanogaster, with an isofemale line design. Results were compared with data previously obtained from French populations. Although the environmental and thermal conditions are very different in France and Morocco, only two significant differences were observed: a shorter wing and a lighter abdomen pigmentation in Morocco. It is, therefore, concluded that Moroccan D. melanogaster are quite typical temperate flies, belonging to the Palaearctic region, and very different from the ancestral Afrotropical populations. Almost all traits were genetically variable, as shown by significant intraclass correlations among lines. Genetic correlations were highly significant among three size-related traits, while much lower between size and bristle numbers. Fluctuating asymmetry was greater for abdominal bristles than for sternopleural bristles. Sex dimorphism, analysed as a female/male ratio, was identical in French and Moroccan populations. Examination of the thorax length/thorax width ratio showed that the thorax is more elongated in females. Sexual dimorphism of wing length was significantly more correlated to thorax width than to thorax length. The results illustrate the value of measuring numerous quantitative traits on the same flies for characterizing the genetic architecture of a natural population. In several cases, and especially for genetic correlations, some interesting suggestions could be made, which should be confirmed, or invalidated, by more extensive investigations.

【 授权许可】

Unknown