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Chromosome polymorphisms and natural selection inLeptysma argentina (Orthoptera): external phenotype affected by a centric fusion predicts adult survival

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Abstract

The relationship between fitness variation associated with a quantitative trait and a Mendelian factor affecting that trait was examined in a natural population of the South American grasshopperLeptysma argentina. Previous studies have shown that a centric fusion between chromosomes 3 and 6 (fusion 3/6) increases adult survival and body size in this grasshopper. Here we examined the possible relationships among fusion 3/6, a size-related trait (prothorax height) and adult survival in a natural population. The study was based on two generations, comparing samples taken at the beginning and at the end of the adult life span. All individuals were karyotyped and scored for prothorax height (PH). A nonparametric regression analysis revealed that adult survival monotonically increased with PH in both generations. Moreover, fusion 3/6 was found to have an additive effect on this trait. Within generations, fusion frequency increased with adult survival in males (but not significantly so), as expected if phenotypic selection on PH influences the fusion polymorphism. Using regression analyses, we show that the correlation between PH and adult survival is not a purely environmental correlation genetically independent from the fusion polymorphism. A simple model is proposed for testing similar hypotheses in studies of selection on a trait influenced by a known genetic polymorphism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Genética, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    F. M. Norry & P. C. Colombo

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina

    F. M. Norry & P. C. Colombo

Authors
  1. F. M. Norry
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  2. P. C. Colombo
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Correspondence to F. M. Norry.

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Norry, F.M., Colombo, P.C. Chromosome polymorphisms and natural selection inLeptysma argentina (Orthoptera): external phenotype affected by a centric fusion predicts adult survival. J Genet 78, 57–62 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02994704

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02994704

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