Gene Polymorphism in Natural Populations of DROSOPHILA PERSIMILIS.

Genetic variation at 43 loci has been studied in six different populations of Drosophila persimilis by electrophoresis of enzymes and proteins. In D. persimilis the mean proportion of polymorphic loci is 0.362, the mean proportion of heterozygous loci per individual is 0.100 and the average number of alleles per locus is 1.651. In all populations, the loci coding for the hydrolytic and other nonspecific enzymes are much more variable than the loci coding for the enzymes of the glycolytic pathway, Kreb's cycle, other specific enzymes and larval proteins. Most loci have similar allele frequency in all populations except the two loci, Amylase and Pt-12, which show a pattern of associations of different alleles with different third chromosome inversions.