Naturally occurring variation in bristle number and DNA polymorphisms at the scabrous locus of Drosophila melanogaster

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 266; no. 5191; pp. 1697 - 1702
• Main Authors: Lai, C, Lyman, R.F, Long, A.D, Langley, C.H, Mackay, T.F.C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 09.12.1994; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Alleles; Anatomy; Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Chromosomes; Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids; Correlation; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA - genetics; Drosophila; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - anatomy & histology; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila Proteins; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Insect; Genetic aspects; Genetic loci; genetic polymorphism; Genetic variance; Genetic Variation; Genetics; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Glycoproteins; Haplotypes; Insects; Invertebrata; Linkage Disequilibrium; loci; Male; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; Numbers; Phenotype; Phenotypic traits; Polymorphism, Genetic; Population genetics; Proteins - genetics; Quantitative genetics; Quantitative traits; restriction fragment length polymorphism; Restriction Mapping; Sense Organs - anatomy & histology; sensilla; setae (animal); Variation (Biology); Natural population; Genetic variability; Insecta; Quantitative character; Setae; Drosophilidae; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Gene frequency; Arthropoda; Restriction map; Invertebrata; Drosophila melanogaster; Haplotype; Diptera
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.7992053

The association between quantitative genetic variation in bristle number and molecular variation at a candidate neurogenic locus, scabrous, was examined in Drosophila melanogaster. Approximately 32 percent of the genetic variation in abdominal bristle number (21 percent for sternopleural bristle number) among 47 second chromosomes from a natural population was correlated with DNA sequence polymorphisms at this locus. Several polymorphic sites associated with large phenotypic effects occurred at intermediate frequency. Quantitative genetic variation in natural populations caused by alleles that have large effects at a few loci and that segregate at intermediate frequencies conflicts with the classical infinitesimal model of the genetic basis of quantitative variation.