Open AccessDetection of simple polygenic segregations in a natural population
Author(s) -
James N. Thompson,
C. G. N. MascieTaylor
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.82.24.8552
Subject(s) - biology , genetics , allele , penetrance , population , dominance (genetics) , heterozygote advantage , drosophila melanogaster , natural population growth , evolutionary biology , phenotype , gene , demography , sociology
Penetrance frequencies were used to quantify segregating polygenic effects in a natural population ofDrosophila melanogaster . When males from a series of 100 isofemale strains were crossed to females from a veinlet (ve ) line that had been selected for shortened veins, gaps commonly appeared in the fifth longitudinal (L5) vein in theve /+ heterozygotes. We were able to assign each strain to one of six significantly different clusters, based upon the pattern of polygenic modifiers ofve dominance segregating in each strain. We conclude that the extensive range of phenotypic variation in vein-forming ability is actually based upon a relatively simple underlying polygenic structure that is consistent with segregation of only a small number of alleles or allele combinations in the wild population.