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.
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Acknowledgements
We thank T. Arnett, A. Maruyama and K. Scott for their assistance in measuring wing veins, S. Wooding for assistance collecting worker bees, and M. D. Breed for the use of his honeybee hives.
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Messier, S., Mitton, J. Heterozygosity at the malate dehydrogenase locus and developmental homeostasis in Apis mellifera. Heredity 76, 616–622 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1996.88
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1996.88
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