Natural variation in a Drosophila clock gene and temperature compensation.
The threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) encoding repeat within the clock gene period of Drosophila melanogaster is polymorphic in length. The two major variants (Thr-Gly)17 and (Thr-Gly)20 are distributed as a highly significant latitudinal cline in Europe and North Africa. Thr-Gly length variation from both wild-caught and transgenic individuals is related to the flies' ability to maintain a circadian period at different temperatures. This phenomenon provides a selective explanation for the geographical distribution of Thr-Gly lengths and gives a rare glimpse of the interplay between molecular polymorphism, behavior, population biology, and natural selection.
Sawyer
L A
LA
Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
Hennessy
J M
JM
Peixoto
A A
AA
Rosato
E
E
Parkinson
H
H
Costa
R
R
Kyriacou
C P
CP
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics*; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D017344:Genes, Insect; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005998:Glycine / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013696:Temperature; D013912:Threonine / Q000235:genetics; D019076:Transgenes
D004151:Dipeptides; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C539040:PER protein, Drosophila; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; D013912:Threonine; D005998:Glycine