Costa, R., Peixoto, A.A., Barbujani, G., Kyriacou, C.P. (1992). A latitudinal cline in a Drosophila clock gene. Proc. Biol. Sci. 250(1327): 43--49.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0057572
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
The clock gene period determines biological rhythmicity in Drosophila melanogaster and encodes a protein characterized by an alternating series of threonine-glycine pairs. The minisatellite region encoding the threonine-glycine repeat is polymorphic in length in natural Drosophila melanogaster populations. In this paper we report the geographical analysis of this polymorphism within Europe and North Africa. A robust clinal pattern is observed along a north-south axis. We suggest the possibility that the length polymorphism could be maintained by thermal selection because the threonine-glycine region has been shown to provide thermostability to the circadian phenotype.
