Heterozygosity at the malate dehydrogenase locus and developmental homeostasis in Apis mellifera

Abstract

We compared fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of wing vein lengths in honeybees (Apis mellifera) between heterozygotes and homozygotes at the malate dehydrogenase (MDH) locus. FA is an indirect measure of developmental homeostasis - the ability of individuals to develop normal phenotypes despite genetic and environmental stresses. Heterozygosity is thought to have a positive influence on developmental homeostasis; hence we hypothesized that honeybees heterozygous for the MDH locus would have greater developmental homeostasis and less FA than homozygotes. Our data support this hypothesis. For one of the five characters measured, MDH heterozygotes displayed less FA than homozygotes in both colonies we examined. We also detected differences in character size and character correlation between MDH heterozygotes and homozygotes, although these patterns were not consistent across colonies. A discriminant function analysis of wing vein characters revealed significant differences between homozygotes and heterozygotes. © 1996 The Genetical Society of Great Britain.