Morphological variation in Brazilian populations of Drosophila melanogaster: latitudinal and temporal variation, heritability and association with chromossomal inversions

Author(s)

Laura Helena Hafner da Silva

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia
• Defense date: 2006-08-24

Examining board members

Louis Bernard Klaczko; Vera Nisaka Solferini; Rosana Tidon Sklorz

• Advisor: Louis Bernard Klaczko

Abstract

The present work aims to characterize the variation of wing size and shape in Drosophila melanogaster populations from three localities distributed along a wide latitudinal range of the Brazilian coast. The work was performed based on collections made in the cities of Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. The aspects studied were: 1) geographic variation; 2) temporal variation; 3) heritability; and 4) the influence of chromosomal inversions. To this end, the ellipse method was applied to digitized images of the wings. We analyzed wing size, wing shape and the position of vein junctions and extremities (characterized by their angular and radial coordinates, the latter being standardized by wing size). The results obtained showed that size variatiorn in Brazilian D. melanogaster follows the worldwide tendency toward the formation of latitudinal clines, with larger individuaJs being found at higher latitudes. However, the heritability and temporal variation among multiple collections performed in Recife and Rio de Janeiro did not show a clear regular pattern. The only consistent and significant effect of chromosomal inversions that we could observe was that of In(3R)Payne on body size, which is also consistent with previous findings reported in the literature. However, we did not detect a significant effect of genotype-environment interactions, neither among collections, nor among localities (AU)