A non-coding indel polymorphism in the fruitless gene of Drosophila melanogaster exhibits antagonistically pleiotropic fitness effects.

ABSTRACT: The amount of genetic variation for fitness within populations tends to exceed that expected under mutation-selection-drift balance. Several mechanisms have been proposed to actively maintain polymorphism and account for this discrepancy, including antagonistic pleiotropy (AP), where allelic variants have opposing effects on different components of fitness. Here, we identify a non-coding indel polymorphism in the fruitless gene of Drosophila melanogaster and measure survival and reproductive components of fitness in males and females of replicate lines carrying each respective allele. Expressing the fruitless region in a hemizygous state reveals a pattern of AP, with one allele generating greater reproductive fitness and the other conferring greater survival to adultho

SUBMITTER: Jardine MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8113896 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature