Patterns of variation in desiccation resistance in a set of recombinant inbred lines in Drosophila melanogaster

FEDERICO H GÓMEZ; PABLO SAMBUCETTI; VOLKER LOESCHCKE; FABIÁN M NORRY

PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY (PRINT)

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 40 p. 205 - 211

0307-6962

Desiccation, resulting from extremely dry environmental conditions, is a serious obstacle to the survival of organisms. Water is vital for the maintenance of intracellular structure and prevents the irreversible formation of aggregates, an occurrence leading to loss of cellular function. An intercontinental set of Recombinant Inbred Lines (RIL) was used to characterize genetic variation in Desiccation Stress Resistance (DSR) in Drosophila melanogaster Meigen. Flies are exposed to a low humidity environment (<10% R.H.) at a constant temperature of 25 °C. Desiccation stress resistance is higher in RIL derived from a backcross to the parental stock sensitive to heat stress (from Denmark) than to RIL derived from the reciprocal backcross to the heatstress resistant stock (from Australia). Composite interval mapping reveals significant Quantitative Trail Loci (QTL) for DSR in the set of RIL. Both major and minor effect QTL are detected, suggesting a complex genetic architecture. When compared to previous work on the same set of RIL, this study indicates that not all traits of resistance to environmental stressors are affected in the same direction by segregating co-localized QTL.