Extensive variation at the alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase locus in species of waterstriders (Gerridae: Hemiptera)

Abstract

Variation at the alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha-Gpdh; EC 1.1.1.8) locus was surveyed in 11 species of waterstriders (Gerridae: Hemiptera) and five other species of aquatic Hemiptera. Species of waterstriders exhibited considerable inter- and intraspecific variation in degree of winglessness. Average heterozygosity (0.401 +/- 0.090) and average number of observed electromorphs (5.36 +/- 0.96) for the 11 gerrid species were well above values reported for nearly all other insect species surveyed to date. Wing-monomorphic and wing-polymorphic species did not differ in average alpha Gpdh heterozygosity. Of the three wing-polymorphic species surveyed geographically, two species exhibited marked variation in wing-morph frequencies but homogeneous alpha-Gpdh allele frequencies. The third species exhibited geographically homogeneous alpha-Gpdh and wing-morph frequencies, but no significant association between alpha-Gpdh phenotype and wing morph was observed in any surveyed population. These results are consistent with hypotheses evoking either relaxed purifying selection at the alpha-Gpdh locus in species of Gerridae due to the apparent reduced importance of flight, or selective maintenance of common alpha-Gpdh electromorphs.