Chromosomal structure and recombination between inversions in Drosophila subobscura

Abstract

Drosophila subobscura is a species with rich chromosomal polymorphism. More than 45 arrangements have been described in the O chromosome. The recombination between them is an interesting topic, because many nonoverlapping arrangements are inherited together. In the analysis of recombination between the arrangements O7 and O3+4+8, out of 415 individuals observed none was found to be recombinant. The same result was obtained in the study of the recombination between the inversions O5 and O3+4, in which 437 individuals were analyzed. In this case a significant non equivalent segregation was found, the O5 chromosomes being more frequent than expected. This phenomenon could be explained by three hypotheses: a meiotic drive, a greater fitness of the individuals carrying this inversion and heterotic effect of a wild chromosome in combination with a chromosome from an inbred laboratory strain. If the second hypothesis is correct, it could explain why an inversion always associated with a lethal gene in American populations is not infrequent and presents a clinal distribution in the colonized areas. Furthermore, another inversion, O22, is very similar to O5. These two inversions can be distinguished only by careful observation. Although O22 and O5 are very similar they show different behavior in the wild, probably due to the combinations of genes included in them.