Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T12:34:46.961Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Enzyme protein polymorphism in the slug Arion ater

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

Barrie Burnet
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics, University of Sheffield
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Populations of the slug Arion ater rufus sampled from several localities in England and the Netherlands are polymorphic for different electro-phoretic variants of digestive-gland esterase and salivary-gland tetra-zolium oxidase. Samples of Arion ater ater, which is endemic to the British Isles, were found to be monomorphic for these enzymes. Localized populations of A. a. rufus in Britain could have originated from specimens imported accidentally from continental Europe. There is evidence for gene flow between overlapping populations of the two subspecies. In one of the English populations of A. a. rufus, studied in detail, polymorphism for esterase and tetrazolium oxidase is shown to be balanced. Heterosis may be an important factor contributing to the maintenance of balanced polymorphism for tetrazolium oxidase in this population.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

References

REFERENCES

Brewer, G. J. (1967). Achromatic regions of the tetrazolium stained starch gels: inherited electrophoretic variation. American Journal of Human Genetics 19, 674680.Google ScholarPubMed
Burnet, B. (1961). On the distribution of recessive embryonic lethals in a natural population of Coelopa frigida (Fab.). Oenetical Research (Camb.) 2, 249271.Google Scholar
Cain, A. J. & Williamson, M. H. (1958). Variation and specific limits in the Arion ater aggregate. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 33, 7286.Google Scholar
Li, C. C. (1955). Population Genetics. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Man-Well, C. & Baker, C. M. A. (1970). Molecular Biology and the Origin of Species: Heterosis, Protein Polymorphism and Animal Breeding. London: Sidgwick and Jackson.Google Scholar
Markert, C. & Faulhaber, I. (1965). Lactate dehydrogenase isozyme patterns of fish. Journal of Experimental Zoology 159, 319332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poulik, M. D. (1957). Starch gel electrophoresis in a discontinuous system of buffers. Nature 180, 14771479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quick, H. E. (1960). British slugs (Pulmonata; Testacellidae, Arionidae, Limacidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 6, 106223.Google Scholar
Selander, R. K., Yang, S. Y., Lewontin, R. C. & Johnson, W. E. (1970). Genetic variation in the Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus), a phylogenetic ‘relic’. Evolution 24, 402414.Google ScholarPubMed
Syner, F. N. & Goodman, M. (1966). Polymorphism of lactate dehydrogenase in Gelada Baboons. Science 151, 206208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, J. W. (1902). Monograph of the Land and Freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles (Testacellidae, Limacidae, Arionidae). Leeds: Taylor.Google Scholar
Wallace, B. (1970). Genetic Load: Its Biological and Conceptual Aspects. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.Google Scholar
Williamson, M. (1959). Studies on the colour and genetics of the black slug. Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh 27, 8793.Google Scholar