Chromosome interactions in Drosophila melanogaster. I. Viability studies.
The nature of fitness interactions is an important, yet unsolved, question in population genetics. We compare the egg-to-adult viability of individuals homozygous for either a second or a third chromosome with the viability of individuals homozygous for both chromosomes simultaneously. On the average, the viability of the two-chromosome homozygotes is somewhat greater than expected assuming that the fitnesses of the single-chromosome homozygotes interact in a multiplicative fashion. This result differs from previous observations that indicate either no significant deviations from the expectation or lower-than-expected average fitnesses for the double homozygotes.
D000818:Animals; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D006720:Homozygote; D008136:Longevity; D013223:Statistics as Topic