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Genetic load caused by variation in the amount of rDNA in a wasp

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Abstract

Extensive variation in the size of the short (heterochromatic) arm of chromosome 14 was found in the wasp Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse. Ten different variants were differentiated by size and C-banding pattern. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) revealed that ribosomal DNA in this species is clustered in the darkly C-banded parts of the heterochromatic short arm of chromosome 14. On this basis, we got an indirect estimate of the amount of rDNA from the area of these dark C-bands. The significant absence in males of the three chromosome variants with lower amounts of rDNA indicates that these three variants are lethal in this sex, and suggests the existence of a threshold marking the minimum amount of rDNA which is tolerable in haploidy. This implies about 4% genetic load in the population caused by variation in rDNA amount.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Celular, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), 13083, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    S. M. S. R. Araújo, C. C. Silva & S. G. Pompolo

  2. Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, E-18071, Granada, Spain

    S. M. S. R. Araújo, F. Perfectti & J. P. M. Camacho

Authors
  1. S. M. S. R. Araújo
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  2. C. C. Silva
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  3. S. G. Pompolo
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  4. F. Perfectti
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  5. J. P. M. Camacho
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Araújo, S.M.S.R., Silva, C.C., Pompolo, S.G. et al. Genetic load caused by variation in the amount of rDNA in a wasp. Chromosome Res 10, 607–613 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020970820513

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