Watt W B
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Nov 15;89(22):10608-12. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.22.10608.
Phosphoglucose isomerase genotypes in the butterfly Colias differ dramatically in biochemical properties. These differences were evaluated earlier, using metabolic network theory, to predict, successfully, their effects on glycolytic metabolism and hence on Colias flight capacity and several consequent fitness components in the wild. Female egg-laying, not previously studied, also depends on flight, so female fecundity is now predicted to differ among these genotypes. An experimental design incorporating the thermal ecology of Colias confirms these predictions in a cool habitat. Thus female fecundity differences among animal enzyme polymorphs have now been found. Quantitative reconstruction of the selection regime for phosphoglucose isomerase genotypes in Colias can now begin. The most heat-stable genotypes are the least fecund, suggesting that global warming, if it occurs, may have severe impacts, through population genetics, on demography of thermally sensitive creatures.
蝴蝶艳粉蝶中磷酸葡萄糖异构酶的基因型在生化特性上存在显著差异。这些差异早前已运用代谢网络理论进行评估，从而成功预测了它们对糖酵解代谢的影响，进而对艳粉蝶的飞行能力以及野外的几个相应适合度成分产生的影响。此前未被研究过的雌蝶产卵也依赖飞行，所以现在预计这些基因型的雌蝶繁殖力会有所不同。一个结合了艳粉蝶热生态学的实验设计在凉爽栖息地证实了这些预测。因此，现已发现动物酶多态型之间存在雌蝶繁殖力差异。现在可以开始对艳粉蝶中磷酸葡萄糖异构酶基因型的选择机制进行定量重建。最耐热的基因型繁殖力最低，这表明如果全球变暖发生，可能会通过种群遗传学对热敏感生物的种群统计学产生严重影响。
