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Correlated responses to selection on body size in Drosophila melanogaster

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1999

LINDA PARTRIDGE ,
ROSALIE LANGELAN ,
KEVIN FOWLER ,
BAS ZWAAN  and
VERNON FRENCH
LINDA PARTRIDGE
Affiliation:
Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK
ROSALIE LANGELAN
Affiliation:
ICAPB, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
KEVIN FOWLER
Affiliation:
Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK
BAS ZWAAN
Affiliation:
Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK Present address: Research Group in Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, PO Box 9516, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
VERNON FRENCH
Affiliation:
ICAPB, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
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Abstract

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Correlated responses to artificial selection on body size in Drosophila melanogaster were investigated, to determine how the changes in size were produced during development. Selection for increased thorax length was associated with an increase in larval development time, an extended growth period, no change in growth rate, and an increased critical larval weight for pupariation. Selection for reduced thorax length was associated with reduced growth rate, no change in duration of larval development and a reduced critical larval weight for pupariation. In both lines selected for thorax length and lines selected for wing area, total body size changed in the same direction as the artificially selected trait. In large selection lines of both types, the increase in size was achieved almost entirely by an increase in cell number, while in the small lines the decrease in size was achieved predominantly by reduced cell size, and also by a reduction in cell number. The implications of the results for evolutionary-genetic change in body size in nature are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , August 1999 , pp. 43 - 54
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press