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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY INVESTIGATING THE LARVAL COMPETITIVE ABILITIES OF DIFFERENT CHROMOSOMAL INVERSION PATTERNS WITHIN DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA DAVID KUTZ SPRING 2018 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees in Biology and Spanish, with honors in Biology Reviewed and approved* by the following: Stephen Schaeffer Professor of Biology Thesis Supervisor Michael Axtell Professor of Biology Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT Within the fruit fly species D. pseudoobscura, the third chromosome has a wealth of genetic inversion mutations. These inversions vary in frequency among populations forming geographic clines or gradients under what appears to be strong natural selection. Models of selection – migration balance have suggested that the larval stage of development may be targeted by selection, however, the abiotic or biotic forces behind this selection remain unclear. To test for the influence of temperature and limited resources on selection, we performed larval competition experiments between wild type inversion strains and a standard mutant tester strain to test for differences among six different inversion lines. Our results indicate that when competition is less intense, temperature makes no difference in the ability of different inversion strains to compete. However, when competition is increased, a statistically significant difference in larval competitive success exists among flies carrying different inversions (p < 0.05). This suggests the selective forces driving the polymorphism likely exist when resources are limited. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 Methodology ............................................................................................... 4 Drosophila Strains. .......................................................................................................... 4 Experimental Design. ....................................................................................................... 5 Statistical Analysis. .......................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 3 Results ......................................................................................................... 9 Analysis of Outliers.......................................................................................................... 9 Temperature-based Analysis ............................................................................................ 9 Competition-based Analysis ............................................................................................ 11 Chapter 4 Discussion ................................................................................................... 13 Major Findings ................................................................................................................. 13 Broader Connections to Scientific Literature ................................................................... 14 Limitations and Opportunities for Further Investigation ................................................. 15 Appendix A DROSOPHILA STRAINS AND COLLECTING LOCALITIES .......... 17 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 18 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Panel A: Map of D. pseudoobscura Inversion Frequencies along Geographic Clines throughout Southwest United States Panel B: The phylogeny of chromosome arrangements inferred from cytogenetic and molecular data. Circled arrangements indicate those studied in this experiment. (Fuller 2016). Republished with permission from Genetics Society of America. ........................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Photograph of egg-laying chamber as described, State College, PA, January 2018. 5 Figure 3. Photographs of competition setup as described, State College, PA, May 2017. ...... 6 Figure 4. Mean % Wild-type out of Total Flies Survived (+/- SE of mean) by Inversion and Temperature. (18 and 24OC, respectively) May 2017. AR -– Arrowhead (n = 6, 5 ); CH - Chiricuahua; (n = 9, 9) CU - Cuernevaca; (n = 7, 9) PP - Pike's Peak; (n = 9, 9) ST -– Standard (n = 9, 9); TL - Tree Line (n = 9, 9). ................................................................. 11 Figure 5. Mean % Wild-type out of Total Flies Survived (+/- SE of the mean) by Inversion and Intensity of Competition. May 2017. AR -– Arrowhead (n = 6, 9); CH -– Chiricuahua (n= 9, 9); CU -– Cuernevaca (n= 9, 9); PP - Pike's Peak (n= 9, 9); ST -– Standard (n= 9, 9); TL - Tree Line (n= 9, 9). .......................................................................................................... 13 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. ANOVA Table at 18 Degrees Celsius with 15/15 Flies ............................................ 9 Table 2. ANOVA Table at 24 Degrees Celsius with 15/15 Flies ............................................ 10 Table 3. ANOVA Table Comparing High and Low Temperature Trials at Low Levels of Competition. ..................................................................................................................... 10 Table 4. ANOVA Table at 24 Degrees Celsius with 20/20 Flies ............................................ 11 Table 5. ANOVA Table at 24 Degrees Celsius Comparing Low and High Competition Trials. 12 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Schaeffer for his consistent support and guidance throughout this process. In addition, I want to thank Haley Randolph for being there to help me through the initial steps of building my thesis. I would also like to acknowledge data support from the NIH grant NIH_ROI_GM098478. Outside the lab, my sincerest thanks to Dr. Axtell for reading my thesis and to the Schreyer Honors College for affording me so many opportunities throughout four years here in Happy Valley. I would be remiss if I did not also extend my gratitude to my parents, and to my closest friends for sticking with me the whole time. 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Chromosomal inversions are mutations that alter the order of genes in the genome. The mutations occur when two double stranded breaks are introduced along a chromosome and the central part of the chromosome is rejoined in reverse order to create a new gene arrangement. Chromosomal inversion polymorphisms are quite common in Drosophila (Sperlich and Pfriem, 1982), but the mechanisms responsible for the origin and maintenance of these chromosomal polymorphisms is not clear. More than 30 chromosomal inversions exist on the third chromosome of the fruit fly species Drosophila pseudoobscura (Dobzhansky and Sturtevant, 1938). These chromosomal inversions are thought to be selected in different environments based on circumstantial evidence.. Six of these inversions are widely distributed and reach high frequencies in the Southwest United States (Powell, 1992). Throughout the Southwest, each chromosomal inversion exists at population frequencies that vary along strict geographic clines, yet these frequencies have remained stable for nearly eight decades, despite consistent seasonal fluctuations (Figure 1) (Dobzhansky 1948, Anderson et al. 1991, Schaeffer 2008). Recombination is reduced in inversion heterozygotes because single cross overs generate non-viable gametes (Sturtevant and Beadle, 1936). As a consequence, each gene rearrangement has unique gene combinations that appear to be the targets of selection (Fuller et al. 2016, 2018), The maintenance of different gene arrangement frequencies at any one location suggests that the species is subjected to strong biotic and/or abiotic environmental pressure. In other words, in different areas within the 2 heterogeneous environment, each inversion must offer some form of selective advantage (Dobzhansky 1948). A model of selection – migration balance analyzed the nature of the stable coexistence of five specific inversions across various geographic niches: Standard (ST), Arrowhead (AR), Pikes Peak (PP), Tree Line (TL), Cuernavaca (CU), and Chiricahua (CH) (Schaeffer 2008). This model, which analyzed temperature and humidity, among other factors, used the logic of Levins and MacArthur (1966) to show that D. pseudoobscura experiences its environment in a coarse grain manner, in that a given organism spends the entire selective portion of its life within one specific niche of the varied environment. These niches also exist along rather strict geographic clines (Figure 1). Specifically for D. pseudoobscura, this selective phase is likely to be the larval stage of development because the larvae are incapable of migrating. In contrast, adults experience a fine-grained environment because they may easily traverse the heterogeneous niches. Therefore, all abiotic and biotic factors, such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, and even the presence of other toxin-secreting organisms are likely to exert their selective pressure