Abstract
Due to the direct interaction between enzyme and substrate, the amylase system can provide valuable information on the relationship between homozygosity and developmental homeostasis under a changing environment in several Drosophila species, The adaptive significance of the relationship between genetic variability and environmental change manifests through the well-known polymorphism of the amylase locus (Amy). We examined the effect of gradual and abrupt changes in starch concentration in the nutritional substrate, on the developmental time, egg-to-adult viability and phenotypic plasticity in the progeny of Drosophila subobscura that was homozygous for ?fast? (AmyF/AmyF) and ?slow? (AmyS/AmyS) Amy alleles. Our findings show that gradual and abrupt nutritional changes exert a significant effect on developmental time and viability. A high heterogeneity among genotypes in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and no direct association between FA and fitness components under the two experimental regimes of environmental change were observed.
Highlights
In modern biology, it is generally accepted that organisms in populations cannot be regarded separately from their environments
Biochemical and physiological differences caused by the genetic structure of the amylase locus (Amy) locus are revealed through the variability of fitness components among D. subobscura flies reared on different carbohydrate sources
The flies which completed development on the standard substrate exhibited significantly longest development (23 days) compared to the flies grown on 3% starch which had the shortest development (19 days), whereas flies grown on the 6% starch substrate (20 days), and on the 9% starch substrate in both experimental groups (21 to 22 days, respectively)
Summary
It is generally accepted that organisms in populations cannot be regarded separately from their environments. The degree of success of the responses of different genotypes to environmental changes are significant for the dynamics of the population gene pool. They give rise to a diversity of life-history strategies within populations (Levins, 1968; Roff, 1992; Stearns, 1992; Byers, 2005). Adaptive significance and genetic variability which correlate with environmental change are manifested through the well-known polymorphism of the amylase locus (Amy) in several Drosophila species (Milanović et al, 1989; Matsuo et al, 1999; Stamenković-Radak et al, 2003).
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