Medium-term changes in Drosophila subobscura chromosomal inversion polymorphism: a possible relation with global warming?

• Published in: Journal of genetics Vol. 94; no. 2; pp. 343 - 346
• Main Authors: ZIVANOVIC, GORAN, ARENAS, CONXITA, MESTRES, FRANCESC
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-06-2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air pollution; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chromosome Inversion - genetics; Chromosomes; Cromosomes; Drosophila; Drosophila - genetics; Drosophila subobscura; Drosòfila subobscura; Ecosystem; Environmental aspects; Evolutionary Biology; Genetic aspects; Genetic polymorphisms; Global Warming; Life Sciences; Meteorological Concepts; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Polimorfisme genètic; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Genetic; Research Note; Serbia; Temperature; Serbia; inversions; adaptation; global warming
• ISSN: 0022-1333; 0973-7731
• DOI: 10.1007/s12041-015-0523-z

Drosophila subobscura is a species with a rich chromosomal polymorphism for inversions. Evidence demonstrates that it is adaptive. In the present research, we studied whether it is possible to detect changes in the inversion chromosomal polymorphism of D. subobscura in a medium-term period of time. The Serbian population of Avala was selected and its inversion composition in 2004 and 2011 (a seven year period) was compared. Signicant variation was found in the U chromosome. This result was due to a signicant increase of U1+2 (warm) and a decrease of Ust (cold) and U1+2+6. Further, minimum, maximum and mean temperatures increased (although not signicantly). Thus, U chromosome seems to be able to react in a medium-term to temperature changes in the way expected by the global warming.