Abstract
The relationship between yield, a component of fitness related to fertility, and chaeta number is investigated for sternopleural, orbital and ocellar chaetae in Drosophila melanogaster. Central phenotypes have higher yield than extreme for sternopleural and orbital chaeta number in both sexes suggesting the action of stabilising selection. These two characters are highly correlated genetically and phenotypically. Ocellar chaeta number shows no evidence of stabilising selection, nor of significant correlations with the other characters. In males higher yield is associated with faster mating speed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Barnes, B W. 1968. Stabilising selection in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity, 23, 433–442.
Beardmore, J A, and Shami, S A. 1979. Heterozygosity and the optimum phenotype under stabilising selection. Aquilo ser Zool, 20, 100–110.
Bumpus, H C. 1899. The elimination of the unfit as illustrated by the introduced sparrow. Biol Woods Hole, 11, 209–226.
Caligari, P D S. 1981. The selectively optimal phenotypes of the coxal chaeta in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity, 47, 79–85.
Caligari, P D S, and Mather, K. 1980. Dominance, allele frequency and selection in a population of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Royl Soc Lond B, 208, 163–187.
Camin, J H, and Ehrlich, P R. 1958. Natural selection in water snakes (Natrix sipedon, L.) on islands in Lake Erie. Evolution, 12, 504–511.
Falconer, D S. 1981. Introduction to Quantitative Genetics, 2nd ed.Longman, New York.
Gibson, J B, and Bradley, B P. 1974. Stabilising selection in constant and fluctuating environments. Heredity, 33, 293–302.
Hecht, M K. 1952. Natural selection in the lizard genus Aristelliger. Evolution, 6, 112–124.
Jayant, K. 1966. Birth weight and survival: A hospital survey repeat after 15 years. Ann Hum Genet (Lond), 29, 367–375.
Karn, M N, and Penrose, L S. 1951. Birth weight and gestation time in relation to maternal age, parity and infant survival. Ann Eugen (Lond), 16, 147–164.
Kearsey, M J, and Barnes, B W. 1970. Variation for metrical characters in Drosophila populations. II. Natural selection. Heredity, 25, 11–21.
Lack, D. 1954. The evolution of reproductive rates. In Huxley, J., Hardy, A. L. and Ford, E. B. (eds.) Evolution as a Process, pp. 143–156.
Linney, R, Barnes, B W, and Kearsey, M J. 1971. Variations for metrical characters in Drosophila populations. III. The nature of selection. Heredity, 27, 163–174.
Mather, K. 1953. The genetical structure of populations. Symp Soc Exp Biol, 7, 66–95.
Mather, K. 1987. Consequences of stabilising selection for polygenic variation. Heredity, 58, 267–277.
Mittler, S, and Bennet, J. 1962. A simple food medium that requires no live yeast with the minimum of variables. Dros Inf Serv, 36, 131–132.
Prout, T. 1962. The effects of stabilising selection on the time of development in Drosophila melanogaster. Genet Res, 3, 364–382.
Scharloo, W. 1964. The effects of disruptive and stabilising selection on the expression of a cutibus interruptus mutant in Drosophila. Genetics, 50, 553–562.
Scharloo, W. 1970. Stabilising and disruptive selection on a mutant character in Drosophila. III. Polymorphism caused by a developmental switch mechanism. Genetics, 65, 693–705.
Waddington, C H. 1960. Experiments on canalising selection. Genet Res, 1, 140–150.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shereif, N., Skibinski, D. Stabilising selection on three chaeta characters in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity 60, 427–433 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1988.60
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1988.60
This article is cited by
-
Directional selection in lines founded from different parts of the phenotypic distribution of sternopleural chaetae number in Drosophila melanogaster
Theoretical and Applied Genetics (1989)
-
Association of allozyme heterozygosity and sternopleural chaetae number inDrosophila melanogaster
Genetica (1988)