A population genetic analysis of compensatory mutations in the 3' untranslated region of the bicoid gene of a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. J.F. Baines 1, Y. Chen 1, J.R. Russell 1,2, W. Stephan 1. 1) Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY; 2) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Evidence suggests that epistatic selection maintaining RNA secondary structures may play a significant role in shaping the patterns of standing variation observed in natural populations. Analysis of patterns of linkage disequilibria within the Adh gene region of several Drosophila species indicate a majority of such nonrandom associations have likely arisen due to epistatic selection operating on RNA secondary structures. In order to confirm and further characterize these results, an analysis of the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the bicoid gene of a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster was performed. A 2.2 kb region containing a large secondary structural element in the 3' UTR was sequenced for 25 isofemale lines from Zimbabwe. Results are discussed in the context of Kimura's (1985) model of compensatory evolution.