The Effect of Resource Subdivision on Genetic Variation in Drosophila

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Abstract
In Drosophila and other insects utilizing discrete, subdivided breeding sites, only a few females often contribute progeny to a site, and this may lead to different levels of genetic variance within a site. Experiments with mixed and pure cultures often indicate that the fitness of a genotype is related to the genetic variance. A simple mathematical and model is presented in which a subdivided population structure can lead to a protected polymorhism. Computer simulations show that the effect of subdividisions on the increase of a rare allele falls off rapidly as more females contribute to a site. Electrophoretic data for D. melanogaster emerging from rotting apples are used to obtain an estimate of 2-3 females contributing to a breeding site, which is sufficiently low to have an effect on genetic variation in the simulation model.

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