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Environmental and genetic variations of wing size, cell size and cell division rate, inDrosophila melanogaster

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Abstract

Variations in the wing size ofDrosophila melanogaster are induced by controlled internal (sex, degree of inbreeding) and external (temperature, egg-density) conditions. Moreover, uncontrolled individual variations of the wing size, within each of the experimental groups, are considered. A new mounting technique of the wings, for the purpose of wing length and cell density measurements, is reported.

From the inter-and the intra-group analyses, the following relationships were found: 1. Wing size variations are positively correlated with both cell size and total cell number. 2. Variation of the duration of development is positively correlated with the duration of the cellular generation time. Some contradictions in the existing literature on this subject are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. F. A. Janssens Memorial Laboratory for Genetics, Agricultural Institute of the University, Heverlee (Louvain), Belgium

    Jean Delcour & F. A. Lints (Chercheur qualifié au Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique Belge.)

Authors
  1. Jean Delcour
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  2. F. A. Lints
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Centre National de Radiobiologie et de Génétique

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Delcour, J., Lints, F.A. Environmental and genetic variations of wing size, cell size and cell division rate, inDrosophila melanogaster . Genetica 37, 543–556 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01547152

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