Local adaptation for body color in Drosophila americana

P J Wittkopp; G Smith-Winberry; L L Arnold; E M Thompson; A M Cooley; D C Yuan; Q Song; B F McAllister

doi:10.1038/hdy.2010.90

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Local adaptation for body color in Drosophila americana

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Local adaptation for body color in Drosophila americana

P J Wittkopp, G Smith-Winberry, L L Arnold, E M Thompson, A M Cooley, D C Yuan, Q Song and B F McAllister

Heredity, Vol.106(4), pp.592-602

04/2011

DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2010.90

PMCID: PMC3183901

PMID: 20606690

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Abstract

Pigmentation is one of the most variable traits within and between Drosophila species. Much of this diversity appears to be adaptive, with environmental factors often invoked as selective forces. Here, we describe the geographic structure of pigmentation in Drosophila americana and evaluate the hypothesis that it is a locally adapted trait. Body pigmentation was quantified using digital images and spectrometry in up to 10 flies from each of 93 isofemale lines collected from 17 locations across the United States and found to correlate most strongly with longitude. Sequence variation at putatively neutral loci showed no evidence of population structure and was inconsistent with an isolation-by-distance model, suggesting that the pigmentation cline exists despite extensive gene flow throughout the species range, and is most likely the product of natural selection. In all other Drosophila species examined to date, dark pigmentation is associated with arid habitats; however, in D. americana, the darkest flies were collected from the most humid regions. To investigate this relationship further, we examined desiccation resistance attributable to an allele that darkens pigmentation in D. americana. We found no significant effect of pigmentation on desiccation resistance in this experiment, suggesting that pigmentation and desiccation resistance are not unequivocally linked in all Drosophila species.

Adaptation, Physiological

Genetic Variation

Animals

Gene Flow

Selection, Genetic

Female

Male

Pigmentation

Drosophila - physiology

Drosophila - genetics

Details

Title: Subtitle: Local adaptation for body color in Drosophila americana
Creators: P J Wittkopp - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. wittkopp@umich.edu
G Smith-Winberry
L L Arnold
E M Thompson
A M Cooley
D C Yuan - University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Q Song
B F McAllister
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Heredity, Vol.106(4), pp.592-602
Publisher: England
DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2010.90
PMID: 20606690
PMCID: PMC3183901
ISSN: 0018-067X
eISSN: 1365-2540
Language: English
Date published: 04/2011
Academic Unit: Biology
Record Identifier: 9983992061402771

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