Abstract
The heterozygosity of 13 polymorphic loci, encoding 10 enzymes from several pathways in carbohydrate metabolism, was tested for its effect on growth in juvenile manure worms Eisenia foetida (n = 169), raised under stressful (limited food, low moisture) followed by non-stressful (abundant food, high moisture) conditions. The predictive value of heterozygosity on growth was greatly improved by treating each locus separately rather than summing heterozygosity across all loci (multilocus heterozygosity). Under non-stressful conditions, heterozygosity among loci treated separately had no effect on growth rate (F = 1·60; df = 13, 155; NS); whereas under stressful conditions, heterozygosity among loci treated separately had significant and differential effects on growth rate (F = 2·34; df = 13, 155; P< 0·01) with 7 loci contributing to a positive heterozygosity-growth rate correlation (r = 0·235; P< 0·005) and 6 loci contributing to a negative heterozygosity-growth rate correlation (r = −0·202, P < 0·01). Implicated loci could not be easily grouped into specific metabolic pathways. The negative contribution by some loci may arise as a consequence of heterozygote inferiority, linkage disequilibria with positively-contributing loci, or strong selection at that locus.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Bush, R M, Smouse, P E, and Ledig, F T. 1987. The fitness consequences of multiple-locus heterozygosity: the relationship between heterozygosity and growth rate in pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.). Evolution, 41, 787–798.
Dando, P R, Storey, K B, Hochachka, P W, and Storey, J M. 1981. Multiple dehydrogenases in marine molluscs: electrophoretic analysis of alanopine dehydrogenase, strombine dehydrogenase, octopine dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase. Mar Biol Lettrs, 2, 249–257.
Dastolli, F R. 1964. The intermediary carbohydrate metabolism of Lumbricus terrestris. J Cell Comp Physiol, 64, 465–472.
Diehl, W J, and Koehn, R K. 1985. Multiple-locus heterozygosity, mortality, and growth in a cohort of Mytilus edulis. Mar Biol, 88, 265–271.
Diehl, W J, Gaffney, P M, and Koehn, R K. 1986. Physiological and genetic aspects of growth in the mussel Mytilus edulis. I. Oxygen consumption, growth, and weight loss. Physiol Zool, 59, 201–211.
Futuyma, D J. 1986. Evolutionary Biology. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA.
Gaffney, P M, and Scott, T. 1984. Genetic heterozygosity and production traits in natural and hatchery populations of bivalves. Aquacult, 42, 289–302.
Harris, H, and Hopkinson, D A. 1976. Handbook of Enzyme Electrophoresis in Human Genetics. North Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Hartenstein, R, Neuhauser, E F, and Kaplan, D L. 1979. Reproductive potential of the earthworm Eisenia foetida. Oecologia, 43, 329–340.
Hartenstein, R, Neuhauser, E F, and Easton, E G. 1980. Growth and fecundity of F2 Eisenia foetida derived from F1S, both reared in isolation from birth. Megadrilogica, 3, 185–187.
Hawkins, A J S, Bayne, B L, and Day, A J. 1986. Protein turnover, physiological energetics and heterozygosity in the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis: the basis of variable age-specific growth. Proc R Soc Lond B, 229, 161–176.
Hedrick, P W. 1985. Genetics of Populations. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc., Boston.
Jaenike, J. 1982. “Eisenia foetida” is two biological species. Megadrilogica, 4, 6–8.
Kaplan, D, Lt., Hartenstein, R, Neuhauser, E F, and Malecki, M R. 1980. Physicochemical requirements in the environment of the earthworm Eisenia foetida. Soil Biol Biochem, 12, 347–352.
Koehn, R K, Milkman, R, and Mitton, J B. 1976. Population genetics of marine pelecypods. IV. Selection, migration and genetic differentiation in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Evolution, 30, 2–32.
Koehn, R K, and Shumway, S E. 1982. A genetic/physiological explanation for differential growth rate among individuals of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin). Mar Biol Lettrs, 3, 35–42.
Koehn, R K, and Gaffney, P M. 1984. Genetic heterozygosity and growth rate in Mytilus edulis. Mar Biol, 82, 1–7.
Koehn, R K, Diehl, W J, and Scott, T M. 1988. The differential contribution by individual enzymes of glycolysis and protein catabolism to the relationship between heterozygosity and growth rate in the coot clam, Mulinia lateralis. Genetics, 118, 121–130.
Ledig, F T, Guries, R P, and Bonefeld, B A. 1983. The relation of growth to heterozygosity in pitch pine. Evolution, 37, 1227–1238.
Lee, K E. 1985. Earthworms their Ecology and Relationships with Soils and Land Use. Academic Press, Sydney.
Mitton, J B, and Grant, M C. 1984. Associations among protein heterozygosity, growth rate, and developmental homeostasis. Ann Rev Ecol Syst, 15, 479–499.
Muldal, S. 1952. The chromosomes of the earthworms. I. The evolution of polyploidy. Heredity, 6, 56–76.
Omodeo, P. 1952. Cariologia dei Lumbricidae. Caryologia, 4, 173–275.
Reynolds, J W, Clebsch, E E C, and Reynolds, W M. 1974. Contributions to North American earthworms (Oligochaeta) No. 13 The earthworms of Tennessee (Oligochaeta) I. Lumbricidae. Bull Tall Timbers Res Stn, 17, 1–133.
Robotti, C A. 1982. Biochemical polymorphism of earthworms. 4. Enzymes of Eisenia fetida andrei Bouche (Annelida Oligochaeta). Monitore zool ital (NS), 16, 341–344.
Rodhouse, P G, and Gaffney, P M. 1984. Effect of heterozygosity on metabolism during starvation in the American oyster Crassostrea virginica. Mar Biol, 80, 179–187.
Selander, R K. 1970. Behavior and genetic variation in natural populations. Am Zool, 10, 53–66.
Selander, R K, and Yang, S Y. 1969. Protein polymorphism and genie heterozygosity in a wild population of the house mouse (Mus musculus). Genetics, 63, 653–667.
Shaw, C R, and Prasad, R. 1970. Starch gel electrophoresis of enzymes-a compilation of recipes. Biochem Genet, 4, 297–320.
Slatkin, M. 1987. Heritable variation and heterozygosity under a balance between mutations and stabilizing selection. Genet Res, Camb, 50, 53–62.
Smouse, P E. 1986. The fitness consequences of multiple-locus heterozygosity under the multiplicative overdominance and inbreeding depression models. Evolution, 40, 946–957.
Sokal, R R, and Rohlf, F J. 1981. Biometry, W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.
Zouros, E, Singh, S M, and Miles, H E. 1980. Growth rate in oysters: an overdominant phenotype and its possible explanations. Evolution, 34, 856–867.
Zouros, E, and Foltz, D W. 1987. The use of allelic isozyme variation for the study of heterosis. Isozymes: Current Topics Biol Med Res, 13, 1–59.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Diehl, W. Genetics of carbohydrate metabolism and growth in Eisenia foetida (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae). Heredity 61, 379–387 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1988.128
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1988.128
This article is cited by
-
Ontogenetic change in relative performance of allozyme genotypes influences detection of heterosis in the earthworm Eisenia andrei
Heredity (2005)
-
Rapid development and a long life: an association expected under a stress theory of aging
Experientia (1996)
-
Effect of quantity and quality of environmental stress on multilocus heterozygosity-growth relationships in Eisenia fetida (Annelida: Oligochaeta)
Heredity (1995)
-
Selection of breeding stock in pigs favours 6PGD heterozygotes
Heredity (1994)
-
Correlation between the individual heterozygosity of parents and their offspring
Heredity (1993)