Differences in life history traits between alcohol dehydrogenase genotypes of Drosophila mercatorum: background and maternal genotype effects.

The effects of genotype at the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) locus on developmental time and fecundity were studied using three strains of Drosophila mercatorum. All three strains had similar genetic backgrounds and two were homozygous for the same electrophoretic allele (F for fast). The third strain was homozygous for the slow allele (S). The life history traits of all possible progeny of these strains were studied. The results showed that for both mean developmental time and pattern of eclosion, strong maternal genotype and background effects were present. Fecundity among genotypes was not different, although there was an effect on the total number of offspring suggesting differences in egg-to-adult survivorship.