Summary
Incomplete family data were used to show the inheritance of the Ng locus in blue grouse. Three bands found on starch-gels were inherited as codominant alleles at a single autosomal locus. Mothers were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Chicks had two significant departures from equilibrium conditions but these were in opposite directions. Heterozygous females, NgS/NgM, produced too few heterozygous and rare homozygous, NgS/NgS, offspring. This deviation was not found among offspring from homozygous mothers. These results may be due to a phenomenon known as the unlike-homozygous-parent effect in cattle. No mechanism is known to account for these results. These analyses suggest that fitness is a complex function of different types of selection at different times in the year.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Ashton, G C. 1965. Serum transferrin D alleles in Australian cattle. Aust J Biol Sci, 18, 665–670.
Ashton, G C, Gilmour, D C, Kiddy, C A, and Kristjansson, F K. 1967. Proposals on nomenclature of protein polymorphisms in farm livestock. Genetics, 56, 353–362.
Baker, C M A, Croizer, G, Stratil, A, and Manwell, C. 1970. Identity and nomenclature of some protein polymorphisms of chicken eggs and sera. In E. W. Caspari (ed.), Advances in Genetics, pp. 147–174. Academic Press, New York.
Bendell, J F, and Elliott, P W. 1967. Behaviour and the regulation of numbers in blue grouse. Can. Wildl. Ser. Rep. Series, No. 4. 76 pp. Queen's Printer, Ottawa.
Birdsall, D A. 1972. Allele and phenotype frequency variation of three loci in natural populations of deer mice (Peromyscus manicidatus). 112 pp. Unpublished. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Alberta.
Birdsall, D A, Redfield, J A, and Cameron, D G. 1970. White bands on starch-gels stained for esterase activity: A new polymorphism. Biochem Genet, 4, 655–658.
Cooper, D W. 1966. A note on the examination of genotypic ratios in domestic animals using incomplete family data. Anim Prod, 8, 511–513.
Cooper, D W. 1968. The use of incomplete family data in the study of selection and population structure in marsupials and domestic animals. Genetics, 60, 147–156.
Cooper, D W, and Rendel, J. 1968. Incomplete family data, selection and population studies of transferrins and blood groups in cattle. Heredity, 23, 49–66.
Cooper, D W, and Sharman, G B. 1964. Transferrin variation in kangaroos. Nature, 203, 1094.
Dobzhansky, T, and Levene, H. 1948. Genetics of natural populations. XVII. Proof of operation of natural selection in wild populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura. Genetics, 33, 537–547.
Ford, E B. 1965. Ecological Genetics, 2nd edition. 335 pp. Methuen, London.
Fujino, K, and Kang, T. 1968. Serum esterase groups of Pacific and Atlantic tunas. Copeia, 1, 56–63.
Manwell, C, and Baker, C M A. 1970. Molecular Biology and the Origin of Species. 394 pp. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Niece, R L, and Kracht, D W. 1967. Genetics of transferrins in burros (Equus annus). Genetics, 57, 837–841.
Poulik, M. 1957. Starch-gels electrophoresis in a discontinuous system of buffers. Nature, 180, 1477–1479.
Redfield, J A, Zwickel, F C, Bendell, J F, and Bergerud, A T. 1972. Temporal and spatial patterns of allele and genotype frequencies at the Ng locus in blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus). Can J Zool, 50, 1657–1662.
Smithies, O. 1955. Zone electrophoresis in starch-gels: group variations in the serum proteins of normal human adults. Biochem J, 61, 629–641.
Smithies, O. 1959. An improved procedure for starch-gel electrophoresis: further variation in the serum proteins of normal adults. Biochem J, 71, 585–587.
Wahlund, S. 1928. Zusammensetzung von Populationen und Korrelationserscheinungen von Standpunkt der Vererbungslehres betrachtet. Hereditas, 11, 65–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Redfield, J. The use of incomplete family data in the analysis of genetics and selection at the Ng locus in blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus). Heredity 31, 35–42 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1973.57
Received:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1973.57