LINKAGE STUDIES INTRIBOLIUM CONFUSUMDUVAL. I. PRELIMINARY LINKAGE STUDIES WITH AUTOSOMAL GENES

Abstract

Linkage relationships were investigated between pearl (p), black (b), split (sp), 3 autosomal mutants already known in the tene-brionid flour beetle Tribolium confusum, and the following 7 spontaneous mutants new to this beetle 3 reddish eye color mutants designated "dirty pearl eye" (dpe), "ruby" (rby) and "ruby spot" (rus); "light ocular diaphragm" (lod) eliminating the black pigment from the ocular diaphragm; "umbilicus" (umb) causing a hemispherical depression in the metathorax; "creased abdominal sternites" (cas) may form grooves in apparent abdominal segments I-IV (most often only on the 1st segment); "melano-tic stink glands" (msg) causing a crystallization and darkening of the fluid in the reservoirs of the odoriferous glands: It has been determined that p, dpe, and cas are linked in that order in the second linkage group; rus, msg and b are also linked, but the order is to be determined; sp is not linked with b or rus, and b and rby and p and umb appear to be on different linkage groups. It is suggested that the segment bearing p and cas is probably homologous to the segment bearing the same genes in Latheticus oryzae, since the distances between the 2 genes are of the same order of magnitude. It is shown that black in T. confusum is not linked with lod, hence this black is not homologous (at least in position) with the black gene is T. castaneum. Pending further discoveries, linkage group II is marked with p, III with lod and the group bearing b is left unassigned.