scholarly journals Genetic variation affecting heart rate in Drosophila melanogaster

1999 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. ROBBINS ◽  
R. AGGARWAL ◽  
R. NICHOLS ◽  
G. GIBSON
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Heart Function ◽  
Susceptibility Gene ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Genetic Dissection ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Wide Range

Heart rate in pre-pupae of Drosophila melanogaster is shown to vary over a wide range from 2·5 to 3·7 beats per second. Quantitative genetic analysis of a sample of 11 highly inbred lines indicates that approaching one-quarter of the total variance in natural populations can be attributed to genetic differences between flies. A hypomorphic allele of the potassium channel gene ether-a-gogo, which is homologous to a human long-QT syndrome susceptibility gene (HERG), has a heart rate at the low end of the wild-type range, but this effect can be suppressed in certain wild-type genetic backgrounds. This study provides a baseline for investigation of pharmacological and other physiological influences on heart rate in the model organism, and implies that quantitative genetic dissection will provide insight into the molecular basis for variation in normal and arrhythmic heart function.

scholarly journals A quantitative genetic analysis of fitness and its components in Drosophila melanogaster

1986 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudy F. C. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Quantitative Characters ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Metric Traits ◽  
Average Fitness

SummaryForty-one third chromosomes extracted from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster were assessed for net fitness and for the quantitative characters viability, net fertility, female productivity, male weight, abdominal bristle number, and sternopleural bristle number. Net homozygous and heterozygous fitness of the third chromosomes was estimated by competition against a marked balancer third chromosome. Average fitness of the homozygous lines relative to wild-type heterozygotes was 0·13, indicating substantial inbreeding depression for net fitness. All significant correlations of quantitative characters with fitness and with each other were high and positive. Homozygous fitness is strongly correlated with net fertility, viability, and female productivity, moderately associated with male weight, and not significantly associated with bristle traits. The combination of metric traits which best predicts homozygous fitness is the simple multiple of viability and female productivity. Heterozygous fitness is not correlated with homozygous fitness; furthermore, the relative contribution of metric traits to fitness in a heterozygous population is likely to be different from that deduced from homozygous lines. These observations are consistent with a model of genetic variation for fitness in natural populations caused by segregation of rare deleterious recessive alleles.

scholarly journals Quantitative investigation reveals distinct phases in Drosophila sleep

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaochan Xu ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Binghui Tian ◽  
Xiuwen Sui ◽  
Weilai Chi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Genetic Dissection ◽  
Power Law Distribution ◽  
Quantitative Investigation ◽  
Waking Up ◽  
Set Up

AbstractThe fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has been used as a model organism for the molecular and genetic dissection of sleeping behaviors. However, most previous studies were based on qualitative or semi-quantitative characterizations. Here we quantified sleep in flies. We set up an assay to continuously track the activity of flies using infrared camera, which monitored the movement of tens of flies simultaneously with high spatial and temporal resolution. We obtained accurate statistics regarding the rest and sleep patterns of single flies. Analysis of our data has revealed a general pattern of rest and sleep: the rest statistics obeyed a power law distribution and the sleep statistics obeyed an exponential distribution. Thus, a resting fly would start to move again with a probability that decreased with the time it has rested, whereas a sleeping fly would wake up with a probability independent of how long it had slept. Resting transits to sleeping at time scales of minutes. Our method allows quantitative investigations of resting and sleeping behaviors and our results provide insights for mechanisms of falling into and waking up from sleep.

scholarly journals A quantitative genetic study of starvation resistance at different geographic scales in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster

2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIETA GOENAGA ◽  
JUAN JOSÉ FANARA ◽  
ESTEBAN HASSON
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Food Shortage ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Variance ◽  
Starvation Resistance ◽  
Natural Genetic Variation ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Variation Explained

SummaryFood shortage is a stress factor that commonly affects organisms in nature. Resistance to food shortage or starvation resistance (SR) is a complex quantitative trait with direct implications on fitness. However, surveys of natural genetic variation in SR at different geographic scales are scarce. Here, we have measured variation in SR in sets of lines derived from nine natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster collected in western Argentina. Our study shows that within population variation explained a larger proportion of overall phenotypic variance (80%) than among populations (7·2%). We also noticed that an important fraction of variation was sex-specific. Overall females were more resistant to starvation than males; however, the magnitude of the sexual dimorphism (SD) in SR varied among lines and explained a significant fraction of phenotypic variance in all populations. Estimates of cross-sex genetic correlations suggest that the genetic architecture of SR is only partially shared between sexes in the populations examined, thus, facilitating further evolution of the SD.

scholarly journals Quantitative genetic variation of enzyme activities in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster

1980 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 1073-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Laurie-Ahlberg ◽  
G. Maroni ◽  
G. C. Bewley ◽  
J. C. Lucchesi ◽  
B. S. Weir
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Quantitative Genetic

Analysis of the asthma susceptibility gene ORMDL3 using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster

Pneumologie ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (06) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Kallsen ◽  
N Zehethofer ◽  
B Lindner ◽  
H Heine ◽  
T Roeder
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Susceptibility Gene ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Asthma Susceptibility

scholarly journals Decreased Temperature Sensitivity of Vestigial Gene Expression in Temperate Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Voigt ◽  
Erpf ◽  
Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Temperature Sensitivity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Thermal Environments ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Temperate Climates

Drosophila melanogaster recently spread from its tropical origin in Africa and became a cosmopolitan species that has adapted to a wide range of different thermal environments, including temperate climates. An important limiting factor of temperate climates has probably been their low and varying temperatures. The transcriptional output of genes can vary across temperatures, which might have been detrimental while settling in temperate environments. The reduction of temperature-sensitive expression of functionally important genes to ensure consistent levels of gene expression might have been relevant while adapting to such environments. In this study, we focus on the gene vestigial (vg) whose product is a key factor in wing development. We provide evidence that temperature-sensitivity of vg has been buffered in populations from temperate climates. We investigated temperature-sensitivity of vg gene expression in six natural populations, including four temperate populations (three from Europe and one from high-altitude Africa), and two tropical populations from the ancestral species range. All temperate populations exhibited a lower degree of temperature-induced expression plasticity than the tropical populations.

scholarly journals Inhalation of marijuana affects Drosophila heart function

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
IM Gómez ◽  
MA Rodríguez ◽  
M Santalla ◽  
G Kassis ◽  
JE Colman Lerner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Heart Function ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Calcium Handling

AbstractMedical uses of marijuana have been recently approved in many countries, and after a long ban on research, there is despicable scientific evidence regarding its action and side effects. We investigated the effect of inhalation of vaporized marijuana on cardiac function in Drosophila melanogaster, a suitable genetic model for assessing cardiovascular function. Chronic exposure of adult flies to vaporized marijuana reduces heart rate, increments contractility and prolongs relaxation. These changes are manifested in the cardiomyocytes with no effect in calcium handling, and in the absence of the canonical cannabinoids receptors identified in mammals. Our results are the first evidence of the in vivo impact of phytocannabinoids in D. melanogaster and open new paths for genetic screenings using vaporized compounds, providing a simple and affordable platform prior to mammalian models.

scholarly journals ESTIMATION OF FITNESS COMPONENTS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. I. HETEROZYGOTE VIABILITY INDICES

Genetics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148
Author(s):  
Alan J Katz ◽  
Ricardo A Cardellino
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Reciprocal Effects ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Genotypic Variance ◽  
Fitness Components ◽  
Marker Chromosomes ◽  
The Future ◽  
Relative Viability

ABSTRACT We examine the assumption of "dominance" with regard to viability of the Cy and Pm marker chromosomes in D. melanogaster. This assumption is often invoked for the extraction of wild-type second chromosomes from natural populations and for the calculation of relative viability indices. Significant genotypic variances for viability are found among both C y / f i and P m / f i heterozygotes in California and Japanese populations. The magnitude of the Pm/+i genotypic variance is substantially less than that of the Cy/+j heterozygotes (less than one half). Significant reciprocal effects are also found to influence Cy/+j, Pm/+i and + J f j viabilities. We conclude that viability indices of heterozygotes based on the Curly method are biased. We suggest that viability indices in the future be expressed relative to the viability of the Cy/Pm genotype (Curly-Plum method) or possibly that of the Pm/+i genotype (Plum method).

scholarly journals The evolutionary potential of diet-dependent effects on lifespan and fecundity in a multi-parental population of Drosophila melanogaster

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enoch Ng’oma ◽  
Wilton Fidelis ◽  
Kevin M. Middleton ◽  
Elizabeth G. King
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
Fitness Components ◽  
Nutrient Imbalance ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Nutritional Conditions ◽  
Quantitative Genetic Parameters

AbstractThe nutritional conditions experienced by a population play a major role in shaping trait evolution in many taxa. Constraints exerted by nutrient limitation or nutrient imbalance can influence the maximal value that fitness components such as reproduction and lifespan attains, and organisms may shift how resources are allocated to different structures and functions in response to changes in nutrition. Whether the phenotypic changes associated with changes in nutrition represent an adaptive response is largely unknown. Further, it is unclear whether the response of fitness components to diet even has the potential to evolve in most systems. In this study, we use an admixed multiparental population of Drosophila melanogaster reared in three different diet conditions to estimate quantitative genetic parameters for lifespan and fecundity. We find significant genetic variation for both traits in our population and show that lifespan has moderate to high heritabilities within diets. Genetic correlations for lifespan between diets were significantly less than one, demonstrating a strong genotype by diet interaction. These findings demonstrate substantial standing genetic variation in our population that is comparable to natural populations and highlights the potential for adaptation to changing nutritional environments.

scholarly journals Wild worm embryogenesis harbors ubiquitous polygenic modifier variation

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalise B Paaby ◽  
Amelia G White ◽  
David D Riccardi ◽  
Kristin C Gunsalus ◽  
Fabio Piano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Gene Function ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Complex Trait ◽  
Genetic Modifiers ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Cryptic Genetic Variation ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
In The Wild

Embryogenesis is an essential and stereotypic process that nevertheless evolves among species. Its essentiality may favor the accumulation of cryptic genetic variation (CGV) that has no effect in the wild-type but that enhances or suppresses the effects of rare disruptions to gene function. Here, we adapted a classical modifier screen to interrogate the alleles segregating in natural populations of Caenorhabditis elegans: we induced gene knockdowns and used quantitative genetic methodology to examine how segregating variants modify the penetrance of embryonic lethality. Each perturbation revealed CGV, indicating that wild-type genomes harbor myriad genetic modifiers that may have little effect individually but which in aggregate can dramatically influence penetrance. Phenotypes were mediated by many modifiers, indicating high polygenicity, but the alleles tend to act very specifically, indicating low pleiotropy. Our findings demonstrate the extent of conditional functionality in complex trait architecture.

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