Environment-enzyme polymorphism relationships in two Hawaiian Drosophila species

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Seven polymorphic enzyme-gene loci in Drosophila mimica and five such loci in D. engyochracea were investigated in a time-dependent study. Heterozygosity levels were stressed and relationships determined between heterozygosity and different weather variables and between allele frequencies and different weather parameters. Coordinated shifts in heterozygosity level were noted for different loci in each species. In D. mimica, significant correlations between rainfall and specific allele frequencies at the IDH-1, PGM-1 and EST-2 loci were found. Such a correlation was also found for D. engyochracea at the PGM-1 locus. These findings are discussed with respect to the metabolic roles of these enzymes and their value for predicting associated changes in the genetic architecture of the gene pools they reside in. These activities are consistent with Darwinian theory and not with theories which invoke neutrality.Research was supported by NSF grants GB-23230, GM-27586, and GB-29288