Selection on Viability of Individuals Heterozygous for the Temperature-Sensitive Lethal Mutation l(2)M167DTS in Experimental Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

In experiments on introduction of mutation l(2)M167^DTS in Drosophila melanogaster populations, larval and pupal viability and developmental rate are limiting factors determining the intensity of selection on the l(2)M167^DTS mutation. Notwithstanding the rapid elimination of the mutation from the population, positive selection for viability was shown, which increased fitness of the mutation carriers in generations. The fitness component viability was estimated in individuals l(2)M167^DTS/+; relative to that of wild-type individuals, it varied from 0.5 to 1.0. Factors affecting this trait in overcrowded populations were found.__________Translated from Genetika, Vol. 41, No. 6, 2005, pp. 759–766.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Kulikov, Marec, Mitrofanov.