Extreme QTL mapping of zinc chloride resistance in Drosophila melanogaster

The goal was to identify QTL underlying developmental resistance to zinc chloride in Drosophila melanogaster. We began with a large population constructed by mixing several hundred Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR) 8-way RILs (Recombinant Inbred Lines). Over 12 independent replicates, thousands of embryos from this population were exposed to zinc chloride-containing media (or control, non-toxic media), and emerging adult females were harvested. For each replicate we isolated DNA in bulk from the females emerging from each treatment, and carried out pooled sequencing. QTL are identified as significant, consistent frequency shifts between control and zinc treatments, and a number of QTL were identified.