Nusslein-Volhard et al., 1984), it is likely that the observed lack of thewg fragment amplification may result from either a small deletion or
point mutation(s). Such lesions could prevent specific annealing of the
primer(s) in appropriate DNA site(s), and a lack of PCR-mediated ampli-
fication. Nevertheless, it appears that dysfunction of the wg gene may
be responsible, at least partially, for the observed deformation and
reduction of wings in P. apollo individuals.
Since wg has been discovered due to isolation of mutants in the regulatory
region of this gene which caused a transformation of the adult
wings into thoracic notum (Sharma and Chopra, 1976), and further
studies confirmed that the wg gene is required to pattern the Drosophila
wings and other adult body structures (for a review, see Swarup and
Verheyen, 2012), it is not a surprise that lesions in wg might affect formation
of wings in P. apollo. If this is the case, mutation(s) in this gene
can be transmitted to the butterfly offspring, resulting in inheritance
of the deformation or reduction of wings. Since P. apollo population in
Pieniny has been restituted from a small number of individuals, the
presence of the mutation in one or a few of them could cause the genetic
problem in the total population.