Nature Genetics
34, 429 - 433 (2003)
Published online: 27 July 2003; | doi:10.1038/ng1218
Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) affects variation in Drosophila longevityMaria De Luca1, 2, 4, Nataliya V Roshina3, Gretchen L Geiger-Thornsberry1, Richard F Lyman1, Elena G Pasyukova3
& Trudy F C Mackay11
Department of Genetics, Box 7614, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA. 2
Department of Cell Biology, University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata (CS), Italy. 3
Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 123182, Russia. 4
Present address: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham RPHB 530, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0022, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Trudy F C Mackay trudy_mackay@ncsu.eduMutational analyses in model organisms have shown that genes affecting metabolism and stress resistance regulate life span1, but the genes responsible for variation in longevity in natural populations are largely unidentified. Previously, we mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting variation in longevity between two Drosophila melanogaster strains2. Here, we show that the longevity QTL in the 36E;38B cytogenetic interval on chromosome 2 contains multiple closely linked QTLs, including the Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) locus. Complementation tests to mutations show that Ddc is a positional candidate gene for life span in these strains. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping in a sample of 173 alleles from a single population shows that three common molecular polymorphisms in Ddc account for 15.5% of the genetic contribution to variance in life span from chromosome 2. The polymorphisms are in strong LD, and the effects of the haplotypes on longevity suggest that the polymorphisms are maintained by balancing selection. DDC catalyzes the final step in the synthesis of the neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin3. Thus, these data implicate variation in the synthesis of bioamines as a factor contributing to natural variation in individual life span.
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