Taxonomic identification of Drosophila nasuta subgroup strains by glue protein analysis

Abstract

Protein fractions of salivary glands were analyzed from 30 wildtype strains of eight species belonging to the Drosophila nasuta subgroup by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The electrophoretic patterns indicated several prominent bands which could be shown to represent the major glue protein fractions. The glue protein fractions are species-specific as well as wildtype strain-specific. Wildtype strain specificities are characterized by variations of the species-specific patterns. The patterns of the different wildtypes, species, and hybrids were used for taxonomic identification within the nasuta subgroup, in which the females are morphologically indistinguishable and the males differ only by the markings of their frons. The hybrids provide evidence for gonosomal as well as autosomal linkage of individual genes coding for the major glue protein fractions.