DOI: 10.5061/dryad.hmgqnk9xt
title: Comparative studies on genetic differentiation between two closely related species of <em>Drosophila,</em> <em>D. bipectinata</em> and <em>D. malerkotliana</em>

description: Drosophila bipectinata and D. malerkotliana are two closely related
 species that share common ecological niches throughout their distribution
 zone, which comes under the Oriental-Australian zoogeographical regions.
 These two species have been found to share several common genetic
 characteristics, and due to this, they may experience interspecific mating
 under laboratory conditions and produce hybrid progeny. The population
 genetic work on these two species has been inadequately done by
 considering inversions and enzyme polymorphisms. We decided to consider
 the genetic polymorphism involving commonly persistent chromosomal
 inversions, allozymes, and microsatellite variants of the two species to
 envisage genetic differentiation among the natural populations of these
 two species sampled from distant localities of Indian cities. The results
 of this study indicate that the Indian populations of both species are
 genetically structured. There exists graded variation (clinal variation)
 in the level of heterozygosity from north to south, as an increase in the
 observed heterozygosity prevailed from north to south. This trend was
 observed in the populations of both species, which hints towards similar
 genetic changes being experienced by their members all along their
 distribution area. The phylogenetic trees based on the extent of genetic
 identity between the paired populations of these two species portray two
 distinct clusters, one for the two populations of the north and the other
 for the remaining populations of the south. Further, through this study,
 it can be stated with certainty that there exists ‘isolation by distance’
 as the north and south populations of both species genetically
 significantly vary from each other.
description: # Comparative studies on genetic differentiation between two closely
 related species of *Drosophila*, *D. bipectinata*, and *D. malerkotliana*
 Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.hmgqnk9xt](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hmgqnk9xt) ##
 Description of the data and file structure In total, thirteen natural
 populations of *Drosophila* were sampled from different localities of
 India. *D. bipectinata* flies were collected from seven places, two from
 north India (MBD and VNS) and five from south India (MDR, RMM, NGC, TVM,
 and KKR), whereas six populations of *D. malerkotliana* were procured, two
 from north India (LKO and VNS) and four from south India (MDR, RMM, NGC,
 and TVM). These populations were separated substantially by distance, with
 a larger distance between the north and south populations (Table 1). The
 sampling was done only during the months of August and September due to
 the reason that July to September end become the most favorable period for
 high flush of *Drosophila* populations in the northern part of India and
 in the southern peninsula of India, although, flies are available
 throughout the year but to avoid time variation, same time slot was chosen
 for the collection of flies. ### Files and variables *
 Raw_data_for_frequencies_(D._bipectinata).csv *
 Raw_data_for_frequencies_(D._malerkotliana).csv In both the files
 containing raw data for the frequencies, column header kariyotypes
 represent the kariyotypes for inversions, three different enzyme loci,
 i.e., Ao. Est and Xdh and four different markers (DAN 45, DAN 73, DAN 76,
 and DAN 79) in case of microsatellites. The rest of the column represents
 the populations (LKO, VNS, MDR, RMM, TVM, and NGC). Row represents the
 frequencies of the two variants of a locus. ## Code/software
 Paleontological Statistics (PAST) -3 software
 ([https://past.en.lo4d.com](https://past.en.lo4d.com)).