RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Natural Variation in a <em>Drosophila</em> Clock Gene and Temperature Compensation
JF Science
JO Science
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP 2117
OP 2120
DO 10.1126/science.278.5346.2117
VO 278
IS 5346
A1 Sawyer, Lesley A.
A1 Hennessy, J. Michael
A1 Peixoto, Alexandre A.
A1 Rosato, Ezio
A1 Parkinson, Helen
A1 Costa, Rodolfo
A1 Kyriacou, Charalambos P.
YR 1997
UL http://science.sciencemag.org/content/278/5346/2117.abstract
AB The threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) encoding repeat within the clock gene period of Drosophila melanogaster is polymorphic in length. The two major variants(Thr-Gly)17 and (Thr-Gly)20 are distributed as a highly significant latitudinal cline in Europe and North Africa. Thr-Gly length variation from both wild-caught and transgenic individuals is related to the flies' ability to maintain a circadian period at different temperatures. This phenomenon provides a selective explanation for the geographical distribution of Thr-Gly lengths and gives a rare glimpse of the interplay between molecular polymorphism, behavior, population biology, and natural selection.