Patterns of naturally occurring restriction map variation, dopa decarboxylase activity variation and linkage disequilibrium in the Ddc gene region of Drosophila melanogaster.

Forty-six second-chromosome lines of Drosophila melanogaster isolated from five natural populations were surveyed for restriction map variation in a 65-kb region surrounding the gene (Ddc) encoding dopa decarboxylase (DDC). Sixty-nine restriction sites were scored, 13 of which were polymorphic. Average heterozygosity per nucleotide was estimated to be 0.005. Eight large (0.7-5.0 kb) inserts, two small inserts (100 and 200 bp) and three small deletions (100-300 bp) were also observed across the 65-kb region. We see no evidence for a reduction in either nucleotide heterozygosity or insertion/deletion variation in the central 26-kb segment containing Ddc and a dense cluster of lethal complementation groups and transcripts (greater than or equal to 9 genes) compared to that seen in the adjacent regions (totaling 39 kb) in which only a single gene and transcript has been detected, or to that observed for other gene regions in D. melanogaster. The distribution of restriction site variation shows no significant departure from that expected under an equilibrium neutral model. However insertions and deletions show a significant departure from neutrality in that they are too rare in frequency, consistent with them being deleterious on average. Significant linkage disequilibrium among variants exists across much of the 65-kb region. Lower regional rates of recombination combined with the influence of polymorphic chromosomal inversions, rather than epistatic selection among genes in the dense cluster, probably are sufficient explanations for the creation and/or maintenance of the linkage disequilibrium observed in the Ddc region. We have also assayed adult DDC enzyme activity in these same lines. Twofold variation in activity among lines is observed within our sample. Significant associations are observed between level of DDC enzyme activity and restriction map variants. Surprisingly, one line with a 5.0-kb insert within an intron and one line with a 1.5-kb insert near the 5' end of Ddc each show normal adult DDC activities.