Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Oviposition-Site Preference in Drosophila Following Interspecific Gene Transfer of the Alcohol dehydrogenase Locus

  • Published:
Behavior Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The preference of Drosophila females to lay eggs on substrates that do or do not contain alcohol is an excellent system to study the evolutionary genetics of behavior, because (1) there is variation in this behavior within and among species, (2) the behavior is amenable to laboratory investigation, and (3) the behavior presumably has a direct relationship to reproductive fitness. Moreover, a key genetic component of the system, the Alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) locus, is arguably the most well characterized gene known. However, because the Adh gene and its genetic background are inseparable in reproductively isolated species, it is difficult to establish its role in behavioral divergence. By transgene coplacement, we created pairs of strains of D. melanogaster expressing an Adh allele from either D. melanogaster or D. affinidisjuncta, a Hawaiian species with very low levels of ADH in adults. When raised on ethanol-containing medium, the affinidisjuncta–Adh strains experience high mortality relative to the melanogaster–Adh strains. However, affinidisjuncta–Adh females show the same preference for oviposition on ethanol-containing medium as melanogaster–Adh females. Thus, preference for ethanol in these strains is not determined primarily by Adh genotype.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Brennan, M. D., and Dickinson, W. J. (1988). Complex developmental regulation of the Drosophila affinidisjuncta alcohol dehydrogenase gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev. Biol. 125: 64-74.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carr, T. G., Roininen, H., and Price, P. W. (1998). Oviposition preference and larval performance of Nematus oligospilus (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) in relation to host plant vigor. Environ. Entomol. 27:615-625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavener, D. (1979). Preference for ethanol in Drosophila melanogaster associated with the alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism. Behav. Genet. 9:359-365.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisses, K. T. (1997). The influence of 2-propanol and acetone on oviposition rate and oviposition site preference for acetic acid and ethanol of Drosophila melanogaster. Behav. Genet. 27: 171-180.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, C. W. (1993). A quantitative genetic analysis of oviposition preference and larval performance on two hosts in the bruchid beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Evolution 47:166-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, L. R., and Morrow, P. A. (1981). Specialization: Species property or local phenomenon? Science 211:887-893.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelfand, L. J., and McDonald. J. F. (1983). Relationship between alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity and behavioral response to environmental alcohol in five Drosophila species. Behav. Genet. 13:281-293.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Golic, K. G., and Lindquist, S. (1989). The FLP recombinase of yeast catalyzes site-specific recombination in the Drosophila genome. Cell 59:499-509.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hougouto, N., Lietaert, M. C., Libion-Mannaert, M., Feytmans, E., and Elens, A. (1982). Oviposition-site preference and ADH activity in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetica 58:121-128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaenike, J. (1990). Host specialization in phytophagous insects. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 21:243-273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C. D. (1998). The genetic basis of Drosophila sechellia's resistance to a host plant toxin. Genetics 149:1899-1908.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kamping, A., and van Delden, W. (1978). Alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism in populations of Drosophila melanogaster. II. Relation between ADH activity and adult mortality. Biochem. Genet. 16:541-551.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, M. S., Repp, A., and Smith, D. P. (1998). LUSH odorant-binding protein mediates chemosensory responses to alcohols in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 150:711-721.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laurie, C. C., Heath, E. M., Jacobson, J. W., and Thomson, M. S. (1990). Genetic basis of the difference in alcohol dehydrogenase expression between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:9674-9678.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, P. J. (1997). Adaptive patterns of host-plant selection by phytophagous insects. Oikos 79:417-428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, P. J. (1998). Testing the preference-performance hypothesis in phytophagus insects: Lessons from chrysanthemum leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Environ. Entomol. 27:45-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, J. F., and Avise, J. C. (1976). Evidence for the adaptive significance of enzyme activity levels: Interspecific variation in A-GDPH and ADH in Drosophila. Biochem. Genet. 14: 347-355.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, J. A., and Parsons, P. A. (1972). Alcohol tolerance: An ecological parameter in the relative success of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans. Oecologia 10:373-388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreteau, B., R'Kha, S., and David, J. R. (1994). Genetics of a nonoptimal behavior: Oviposition preference of Drosophila mauritiana for a toxic resource. Behav. Genet. 24:433-441.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, P. A., and Kling, S. B. (1977). Ethanol: Larval discrimination between two Drosophila sibling species. Experientia 33: 898-899.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pirrotta, V. (1998). Vector for P-mediated transformation of Drosophila. In Rodriguez, R. L., and Renhardt, D. T. (eds.), Vectors: A Survey of Molecular Cloning Vectors and Their Uses, Butterworths, Boston, pp. 437-456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond, R. C., and Gerking, J. L. (1979). Oviposition site preference in Drosophila. Behav. Genet. 9:233-241.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, G. M., and Spradling, A. C. (1982). Genetic transformation of Drosophila with transposable element vectors. Science 218:348-353.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sadeghi, H., and Gilbert, F. (1999). Individual variation in oviposition preference, and its interaction with larval performance in an insect predator. Oecologia 118:405-411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegal, M. L., and Hartl, D. L. (1996). Transgene coplacement and high efficiency site-specific recombination with the Cre/loxP system in Drosophila. Genetics 144:715-726.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Siegal, M. L., and Hartl, D. L. (1998). An experimental test for lineage-specific position effects on alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) genes in Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:15513-15518.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, M. C., Ng, D., and Thomas, C. D. (1988). Heritability of oviposition preference and its relationship to offspring performance within a single insect population. Evolution 42:977-985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. P. (1996). Olfactory mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 6:500-505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sofer, W. H., and Hatkoff, M. A. (1972). Chemical selection of alcohol dehydrogenase negative mutants in drosophila. Genetics 72:545-549.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spradling, A. C., and Rubin, G. M. (1982). Transposition of cloned P elements into Drosophila germ line chromosome. Science 218:341-347.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. N. (1988). Evolutionary ecology of the relationship between oviposition preference and performance of offspring in phytophagous insects. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 47:3-14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. N., Wehling, W., and Podolsky, R. (1990). Evolutionary genetics of host use in swallowtail butterflies. Nature 344: 148-150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Delden, W. (1982). The alcohol dehydrogenase polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster: Selection at an enzyme locus. Evol. Biol. 15:187-222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Via, S. (1986). Genetic covariance between oviposition preference and larval performance in an insect herbivore. Evolution 40:778-785.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voelker, R. A., Langley, C. H., Leigh Brown, A. J., Ohnishi, S., Dickson, B., Montgomery, E., and Smith, S. C. (1980). Enzyme null alleles in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster: Frequencies in a North Carolina population. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:1091-1095.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

    Mark L. Siegal & Daniel L. Hartl

Authors
  1. Mark L. Siegal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel L. Hartl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark L. Siegal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Siegal, M.L., Hartl, D.L. Oviposition-Site Preference in Drosophila Following Interspecific Gene Transfer of the Alcohol dehydrogenase Locus. Behav Genet 29, 199–204 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021648103496

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021648103496

Search

Navigation