POPULATION STUDIES OF A LETHAL MUTANT IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Abstract

THE analysis of the causes responsible for the most remarkable amount of genetic variability maintained by iiatural populations of bisexual organisms constitutes one of the most challenging problems for experiniental and theoretical population genetics. It has long been realized that polymorphic loci, at which two or more alleles are sus- tained at appreciable frequencies, may well account for a large part of the population variance even if such loci are relatively rare. This fact attaches special interest to investigations aiming at an analysis of polymorphic systems. The present paper reports on some of the forinal aspects of a polymorphic system involving a homozygously lethal allele of the Stubble locus of Drosophila melanognster.