Publication with datasets McKechnie et al. 2010, A clinally varying promoter polymorphism associated with adaptive variation in wing size in Drosophila, Molecular Ecology

Keywords
Dca, Drosophila melanogaster, Body size, GATA box, Latitudinal variation and Promoter

Summary

ABSTRACT: Body size often shows adaptive clines in many ectotherms across altitude and latitude, but little is known about the genetic basis of these adaptive clines. Here we identify a polymorphism in the Dca (Drosophila cold acclimation) gene in Drosophila melanogaster that influences wing size, affects wing:thorax allometry and also controls a substantial proportion of the clinal wing-size variation. A polymorphism in the promoter region of Dca had two common alleles showing strong reciprocal clinal variation in frequency with latitude along the east coast of Australia. The Dca-237 allele increased towards the tropics where wing size is smaller. A within-population association study highlighted that an increase in the frequency of this allele decreased wing size but did not influence thorax size. A manipulated increase in the level of expression of Dca achieved through UASGAL4 was associated with a decrease in wing size but had no effect on thorax size. This was consistent with higher Dca expression levels in family lines with higher frequency of the Dca-237 allele. Genetic variation in the promoter region of the Dca gene appears to influence adaptive size variation in the eastern Australian cline of Drosophila melanogaster and accounts for more than 10% of the genetic variation in size within and between populations.

Datasets

  • 63 McKechnie et al. 2010, Dca MCA

    This data set contains frequencies of the two most common alleles (MCA: 237 and 246 bp in length) in the Dca promoter region for 17 D. melanogaster populations collected in 2005 (Fig. 3). Frequencies are given for all data independent of the In(3R)P inversion and for inverted and standard arrangements only. Note longitudes in data are approximate.

  • 64 McKechnie et al. 2010, Dca locus

    This data set contains allelic variation (numbers of fragments between 237 and 250 bp in length) in the Dca promoter region for 17 Drosophila melanogaster populations collected in 2005. Note longitudes in data are approximate.

Publication Citations

  • McKechnie, S. W., Blacket, M. J., Song, S. V., Rako, L., Carroll, X., Johnson, T. K., Jensen, L. T., Lee, S. F., Wee, C. W., and Hoffmann, A. A., 'A clinally varying promoter polymorphism associated with adaptive variation in wing size in Drosophila', Molecular Ecology, vol. 19, no. 4, 2010, pp. 775-784. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04509.x. Details