Summary
6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) is sex-linked in Heliconius butterflies. Within each of two species tested, the specific activity of 6PGD in males (the homogametic sex) is approximately twice that in females. This confirms that sex-linked genes in lepidoptera, as in birds, are not dosage-compensated. This absence of dosage compensation may be the basis for the frequent female-limitation of mimicry, and explains the peculiarity that the loci involved are never sex-linked, whereas male-limited sexual characters can be both sex-linked and autosomal.
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Contribution number 247 from the Program in Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
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Johnson, M., Turner, J. Absence of dosage compensation for a sex-linked enzyme in butterflies (Heliconius). Heredity 43, 71–77 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1979.60
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1979.60
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