Article Abstract:
Examination of the genetic adaptation to captivity and inbreeding depression in populations of Drosophila melanogaster reveals that reproductive fitness of wild-derived panmictic populations is higher than the resampled natural populations under competitive conditions. Competitive ability of the cage-derived panmictic population is higher than the corresponding wild population. A comparative study suggests that under noncompetitive conditions adaptation and inbreeding exert little influence on reproductive ability. Adaptive changes are minimized by keeping the populations in a noncompetitive environment.
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Article Abstract:
Electrophoretic studies enable the determination of the decrease in the rate of reproductive fitness in populations of Drosophila melanogaster inbred under both competitive and noncompetitive conditions. The rate of inbreeding decreases with time from 0.96% per generation to an average of 0. 52% per generation over the 210 generation period. Slowly inbred subpopulations exhibit reduced inbreeding rate due to natural selection. Under competitive environment the fitness loss due to homozygosity is 85-90%, while the loss is 25-30% in an optimal environment.
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Article Abstract:
Vermilion, the gene for tryptophan oxygenase required for production of eye pigmentation, shows differentiation between the U.S. and Congo samples of Drosophila simulans. The protein-coding portion of the gene is very variable and most of the variation is located in the largest exon of the gene. Molecular variations at vermilion in both Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans are different indicating that different degrees of population structure and living influence the species.
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