Proper control of genetic background with precise allele substitution: a comment on Coyne and Elwyn.
Coyne and Elwyn report that, using Drosophila stocks provided by us, they were unable to replicate our experiments measuring the effects of desaturase-2 on stress tolerance. In this note, we provide evidence that these authors did not properly control for the differences in genetic background between the lines. Their experiments are thus not meaningful replications of our previous ones. We discuss ways of circumventing this problem in studies involving induced mutations in single genes.
Greenberg
Anthony J
AJ
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. tonyg@uchicago.edu
Moran
Jennifer R
JR
Wu
Chung-I
CI
D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D018390:Gene Targeting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C499595:desat2 protein, Drosophila