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GENETIC VARIATION FOR FEMALE MATE DISCRIMINATION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER
Author(s) -
Scott David
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb01298.x
Subject(s) - biology , courtship , drosophila melanogaster , mating , genetics , autosome , backcrossing , cuticle (hair) , zoology , x chromosome , mate choice , evolutionary biology , gene
Comparisons between the Canton‐S and Tai‐Y strains of Drosophila melanogaster (both wild type) revealed variation in female mate discrimination based on chemical courtship signals present as hydrocarbons on the male cuticle. Mating tests indicated that 7‐tricosene, which is the primary hydrocarbon on the Canton‐S male cuticle but is nearly absent from Tai‐Y, was a significant component of the signal. The discrimination was asymmetrical in that Canton‐S females clearly distinguished between the two types of males in no‐choice tests, but Tai‐Y females did not. F 1 females expressed an intermediate ability to discriminate, and female progeny of backcrosses expressed a mating phenotype very similar to that of the parental strain to which the backcross was made. Analysis of independent effects from the X and both major autosomes indicated that the discrimination is controlled by gene(s) on chromosome 3.