Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:31:25.370Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Transposable element-induced fitness mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Trudy F. C. Mackay
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JN, U.K.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

P element mutagenesis was used to contaminate M strain second chromosomes with P elements. The contaminated lines were compared to uncontaminated control lines for homozygous and heterozygous fitness and its components. Mean homozygous fitness, viability and fertility of chromosome lines contaminated with P elements is decreased relative to the uncontaminated control lines by, respectively, 55, 28 and 40%. Variance among contaminated homozygous lines of total fitness increases by a factor of 1·5, variance of viability by a factor of 5·9, and variance of fertility by a factor of 1·9, compared to variance of these traits among the population of uncontaminated homozygous chromosomes. Estimates of P-element-induced mutational variance among second chromosome lines for homozygous fitness, viability and fertility are, respectively, 2 × 10−2, 5 × 10−2 and 2 × 10−2. This magnitude of mutational effect is equivalent, in terms of incidence of induced recessive lethal chromosomes and D:L ratio, to a dose of approximately 1·0–2·5 × 10−3 m EMS. The distributions of fitness traits among M-derived second chromosome homozygous lines contaminated with P elements are remarkably similar in many regards to distributions of fitness and viability of chromosomal homozygotes derived from natural Drosophila populations. It is possible that a proportion of the fitness variation previously observed (reviewed by Simmons & Crow, 1977) following homozygosis of wild chromosomes was not present in the natural populations, but was generated by P-element transposition during the chromosome extraction procedure. P-element-induced fitness mutations appear to be completely recessive. Implications for models of evolution of transposable elements are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

References

Anderson, W. W. (1969). Selection in experimental populations. I. Lethal genes. Genetics 62, 653672.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bingham, P. M., Kidwell, M. G. & Rubin, G. M. (1982). The molecular basis of P-M hybrid dysgenesis: the role of the P element, a P-strain-specific transposon family. Cell 29, 9951004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bingham, P. M., Levis, R. & Rubin, G. M. (1981). Cloning of DNA sequences from the white locus of D. melanogaster by a novel and general method. Cell 25, 693704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bregliano, J. C. & Kidwell, M. G. (1983). Hybrid dysgenesis determinants. In Mobile Genetic Elements (ed. Shapiro, J. A.). London and New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, B. & Charlesworth, D. (1983). The population dynamics of transposable elements. Genentical Research 42, 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doolittle, W. F. & Sapienza, C. (1980). Selfish genes, the phenotype paradigm and genome evolution. Nature 284, 601603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engels, W. R. (1983). The P family of transposable elements in Drosophila. Annual Review of Genetics 17, 315344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, B. J. & Sved, J. A. (1986). High levels of fitness modifiers induced by hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research (In the Press.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, M. M. (1982). On the problem of spontaneous mutation in Drosophila melanogaster. In Advances in Genetics, Development, and Evolution of Drosophila (ed. Lakovaara, S.). New York and London: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Greenberg, R. & Crow, J. F. (1960). A comparison of the effect of lethal and detrimental chromosomes from Drosophila populations. Genetics 45, 11531168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hickey, D. A. (1982). Selfish DNA: a sexually-transmitted nuclear parasite. Genetics 101, 519531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kidwell, M. G., Kidwell, J. F. & Sved, J. A. (1977). Hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster: a syndrome of aberrant traits including mutation, sterility, and male recombination. Genetics 86, 813833.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langley, G. H., Brookfield, J. F. Y. & Kaplan, N. (1983). Transposable elements in Mendelian populations. I. A theory. Genetics 104, 457471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewontin, R. C. (1974). The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. New York and London: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Lindsley, D. L. & Grell, E. H. (1968). Genetic Variations of Drosophila melanogaster. Carnegie Institute of Washington, publication no. 627.Google Scholar
Mackay, T. F. C. (1984). Jumping genes meet abdominal bristles: hybrid dysgenesis-induced quantitative variation in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research 44, 231237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, T. F. C. (1985). Transposable element-induced response to artificial selection in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 111, 351374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackay, T. F. C. (1986 a). A quantitative genetic analysis of fitness and its components in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research 47, 5970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, T. F. C. (1986 b). Transposable element-induced polygenic mutations in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research (submitted).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, J. A. (1977). Fitness effects of EMS-induced mutations on the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. I. Viability effects and heterozygous fitness effects. Genetics 87, 763774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mitchell, J. A. & Simmons, M. J. (1977). Fitness effects of EMS-induced mutations on the X chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. II. Hemizygous fitness effects. Genetics 87, 775783.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Montgomery, E. A. & Langley, C. H. (1983). Transposable elements in Mendelian populations. II. Distribution of three copia-like elements in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 104, 473483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mukai, T. (1970). Viability mutations induced by ethyl methanesulfonate in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 65, 335348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohnishi, O. (1977 a). Spontaneous and ethyl methanesulfonate-inducedmutationscontrolling viability in Drosophila melanogaster. I. Recessive lethal mutations. Genetics 87, 519527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohnishi, O. (1977 b). Spontaneous and ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mutations controlling viability in Drosophila melanogaster. II. Homozygous effect of polygenic mutations. Genetics 87, 529545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohnishi, O. (1977 c). Spontaneous and ethyl methanesulfonate-induced mutations controlling viability in Drosophila melanogaster. III. Heterozygous effect of polygenic mutations. Genetics 87, 547556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orgel, L. E. & Crick, F. H. C. (1980). Selfish DNA: the ultimate parasite. Nature 284, 604606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, G. M. (1983). Dispersed repetitive DNAs in Drosophila. In Mobile Genetic Elements (ed. Shapiro, J. A.). London and New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, J. A. (ed.) (1983). Mobile Genetic Elements. London and New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Simmons, M. J. & Crow, J. F. (1977). Mutations affecting fitness in Drosophila populations. Annual Review of Genetics 11, 4978.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, M. J., Sheldon, E. W. & Crow, J. F. (1978). Heterozygous effects on fitness of EMS-treated chromosomes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 88, 575590.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sved, J. A. (1971). An estimate of heterosis in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research 18, 97105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sved, J. A. (1975). Fitness of third chromosome homozygotes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research 25, 197200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sved, J. A. & Ayala, F. J. (1970). A population cage test for heterosis in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Genetics 66, 97113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tracey, M. L. & Ayala, F. J. (1974). Genetic load in natural populations: is it compatible with the hypothesis that many polymorphisms are maintained by natural selection? Genetics 77, 569589.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yukohiro, K., Harada, K. & Mukai, T. (1985). Viability mutations induced by the P elements in Drosophila melanogaster. Japanese Journal of Genetics 60, 531537.Google Scholar