THE GENETICS OF CENTRAL AND MARGINAL POPULATIONS OF DROSOPHILA SERRATA. I. GENETIC VARIATION FOR STRESS RESISTANCE AND SPECIES BORDERS.

A selection experiment was used to determine if levels of genetic variance in an ecologically important trait, desiccation resistance, were different in central and marginal populations. Four populations of Drosophila serrata were sampled from central and marginal areas of its distribution, along a 3000-km stretch of Australia's east coast. Rainfall patterns along this stretch of coastline change from a tropical cycle in the north to a temperate cycle in the south. Replicate lines from the four populations underwent selection for desiccation resistance for 14 generations. Realized heritabilities calculated after 10 and 14 generations of selection indicated that the four populations differed significantly in the level of genetic variation for desiccation resistance available to selection. Populations from the more southern marginal areas had lower realized heritabilities than more northern central populations. However, a corresponding increase in mean desiccation resistance toward the margin was not found. A mechanism by which D. serrata seemed to have responded to selection was a reduction in the extent that metabolic rate was increased when flies were exposed to low humidity. This response indicates genetic variation for the control of metabolic rate. In contrast, increased desiccation resistance was not associated with lipid or glycogen levels. Increased resistance to desiccation was accompanied by increased starvation resistance, but radiation resistance was not affected. Selection did not affect the degree that replicate lines or populations had diverged. © 1993 The Society for the Study of Evolution.