High Genetic Variability of Esterase Loci in Natural Populations of Parus major, P. caeruleus, and P. ater

Author： Driesel Simon Bachmann Lutz Stauss Michael Segelbacher Gernot Flach Doris Tomiuk Jürgen Kömpf Jost

ISSN： 0006-2928

Source： Biochemical Genetics, Vol.42, Iss.3-4, 2004-04, pp. : 109-119

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Abstract

In Parus major, P. caeruleus, and P. ater the genetic variation of 16 isozyme loci was determined. The focus was on esterases that show high phenotypic variation in natural populations of these species. The degree of heterozygosity of the “non-esterase” loci was 0.029 ± 0.008 (P. major); 0.023 ± 0.012 (P. caeruleus), and 0.034 ± 0.034 (P. ater). Including the esterase loci with up to six alleles per locus the overall degree of heterozygosity increased to 0.130 ± 0.056 (P. major); 0.143 ± 0.067 (P. caeruleus), and 0.194 ± 0.090 (P. ater). We explain the high level of variability of esterases by gene amplification and subsequent selection for high allelic heterogeneity. Substrate specificity of loci is assumed to allow for multiple resistance against various toxic components. Large allelic variation of esterases, therefore, increases the fitness of Parus species and allows for utilizing new food resources.