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81.
A. J. Wilson J. M. Pemberton J. G. Pilkington T. H. Clutton-Brock D. W. Coltman L. E. B. Kruuk 《Evolutionary ecology》2007,21(3):337-356
While evolution occurs when selection acts on a heritable trait, empirical studies of natural systems have frequently reported
phenotypic stasis under these conditions. We performed quantitative genetic analyses of weight and hindleg length in a free-living
population of Soay sheep (Ovis aries) to test whether genetic constraints can explain previously reported stasis in body size despite evidence for strong positive
directional selection. Genetic, maternal and environmental covariance structures were estimated across ontogeny using random
regression animal models. Heritability increased with age for weight and hindleg length, though both measures of size were
highly heritable across ontogeny. Genetic correlations among ages were generally strong and uniformly positive, and the covariance
structures were also highly integrated across ontogeny. Consequently, we found no constraint to the evolution of larger size
itself. Rather we expect size at all ages to increase in response to positive selection acting at any age. Consistent with
expectation, predicted breeding values for age-specific size traits have increased over a twenty-year period, while maternal
performance for offspring size has declined. Re-examination of the phenotypic data confirmed that sheep are not getting larger,
but also showed that there are significant negative trends in size at all ages. The genetic evolution is therefore cryptic,
with the response to selection presumably being masked at the phenotypic level by a plastic response to changing environmental
conditions. Density-dependence, coupled with systematically increasing population size, may contribute to declining body size
but is insufficient to completely explain it. Our results demonstrate that an increased understanding of the genetic basis
of quantitative traits, and of how plasticity and microevolution can occur simultaneously, is necessary for developing predictive
models of phenotypic change in nature. 相似文献
82.
Linkage disequilibrium (LD) is the nonrandom association of alleles at two markers. Patterns of LD have biological implications as well as practical ones when designing association studies or conservation programs aimed at identifying the genetic basis of fitness differences within and among populations. However, the temporal dynamics of LD in wild populations has received little empirical attention. In this study, we examined the overall extent of LD, the effect of sample size on the accuracy and precision of LD estimates, and the temporal dynamics of LD in two populations of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) with different demographic histories. Using over 200 microsatellite loci, we assessed two metrics of multi‐allelic LD, D′, and χ′2. We found that both populations exhibited high levels of LD, although the extent was much shorter in a native population than one that was founded via translocation, experienced a prolonged bottleneck post founding, followed by recent admixture. In addition, we observed significant variation in LD in relation to the sample size used, with small sample sizes leading to depressed estimates of the extent of LD but inflated estimates of background levels of LD. In contrast, there was not much variation in LD among yearly cross‐sections within either population once sample size was accounted for. Lack of pronounced interannual variability suggests that researchers may not have to worry about interannual variation when estimating LD in a population and can instead focus on obtaining the largest sample size possible. 相似文献
83.
Age-dependent genetic effects on a secondary sexual trait in male Alpine ibex, Capra ibex 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Von Hardenberg A Bassano B Festa-Bianchet M Luikart G Lanfranchi P Coltman D 《Molecular ecology》2007,16(9):1969-1980
Secondary sexual traits, such as horns in ungulates, may be good indicators of genetic quality because they are costly to develop. Genetic effects on such traits may be revealed by examining correlations between multilocus heterozygosity (MLH) and trait value. Correlations between MLH and fitness traits, termed heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFC), may reflect inbreeding depression or associative overdominance of neutral microsatellite loci with loci directly affecting fitness traits. We investigated HFCs for horn growth, body mass and faecal counts of nematode eggs in wild Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). We also tested if individual inbreeding coefficients (f') estimated from microsatellite data were more strongly correlated with fitness traits than MLH. MLH was more strongly associated with trait variation than f'. We found HFC for horn growth but not for body mass or faecal counts of nematode eggs. The effect of MLH on horn growth was age-specific. The slope of the correlation between MLH and yearly horn growth changed from negative to positive as males aged, in accordance with the mutation accumulation theory of the evolution of senescence. Our results suggest that the horns of ibex males are an honest signal of genetic quality. 相似文献
84.
Male reproductive success in a promiscuous mammal: behavioural estimates compared with genetic paternity 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
D. W. Coltman D. R. Bancroft † A. Robertson ‡ J. A. Smith † T. H. Clutton-brock‡ J. M. Pemberton 《Molecular ecology》1999,8(7):1199-1209
Molecular techniques have enabled behavioural ecologists to reassess mating systems from a genetic perspective. Studies of paternity frequently reveal that mating behaviour does not always reflect parentage, and may bring to light alternative mating tactics. Here we present a comparison of behavioural and genetic measures of male reproductive success in a mammalian mating system in which both sexes are highly promiscuous. Rather than having a stable harem social structure, Soay rams (Ovis aries) on the island of Hirta, St Kilda, UK usually consort with individual oestrous ewes sequentially. Not all matings occur between consort pairs, however, and ewes have been seen to mate with up to 10 different rams on the same day. Using locus-specific polymorphism at five protein and 10 microsatellite DNA loci, we determined paternity for 236 lambs born into three cohorts, and compared paternity with estimates of mating success derived from more than one census of rutting behaviour. The correlation between the number of ewes with which each ram was witnessed in consort and the number of paternities assigned was positive and statistically significant, and rams that were observed in consort with a ewe were 18 times more likely to have sired her offspring than other candidate rams. However, most lambs (73%) were not sired by a ram seen in consort with the oestrous mother. Many juveniles, yearlings and some adult rams were rarely seen in consort with ewes, yet were assigned a significant number of paternities. These results suggest that mating tactics differ between age groups, and that alternative mating strategies among adults that do not involve forming consorts with many females also confer mating success. For these reasons, census-based observations of consort associations between individuals cannot be used to accurately estimate individual male reproductive success in this population. 相似文献
85.
Poissant J Shafer AB Davis CS Mainguy J Hogg JT Côté SD Coltman DW 《Molecular ecology resources》2009,9(4):1121-1126
We tested for cross‐species amplification of microsatellite loci located throughout the domestic sheep (Ovis aries) genome in two north American mountain ungulates (bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis, and mountain goats, Oreamnos americanus). We identified 247 new polymorphic markers in bighorn sheep (≥ 3 alleles in one of two study populations) and 149 in mountain goats (≥ 2 alleles in a single study population) using 648 and 576 primer pairs, respectively. Our efforts increased the number of available polymorphic microsatellite markers to 327 for bighorn sheep and 180 for mountain goats. The average distance between successive polymorphic bighorn sheep and mountain goat markers inferred from the Australian domestic sheep genome linkage map (mean ± 1 SD) was 11.9 ± 9.2 and 15.8 ± 13.8 centimorgans, respectively. The development of genomic resources in these wildlife species enables future studies of the genetic architecture of trait variation. 相似文献
86.
Heterozygosity fitness correlations (HFCs) have frequently been used to detect inbreeding depression, under the assumption that genome‐wide heterozygosity is a good proxy for inbreeding. However, meta‐analyses of the association between fitness measures and individual heterozygosity have shown that often either no correlations are observed or the effect sizes are small. One of the reasons for this may be the absence of variance in inbreeding, a requisite for generating general‐effect HFCs. Recent work has highlighted identity disequilibrium (ID) as a measure that may capture variance in the level of inbreeding within a population; however, no thorough assessment of ID in natural populations has been conducted. In this meta‐analysis, we assess the magnitude of ID (as measured by the g2 statistic) from 50 previously published HFC studies and its relationship to the observed effect sizes of those studies. We then assess how much power the studies had to detect general‐effect HFCs, and the number of markers that would have been needed to generate a high expected correlation (r2 = 0.9) between observed heterozygosity and inbreeding. Across the majority of studies, g2 values were not significantly different than zero. Despite this, we found that the magnitude of g2 was associated with the average effect sizes observed in a population, even when point estimates were nonsignificant. These low values of g2 translated into low expected correlations between heterozygosity and inbreeding and suggest that many more markers than typically used are needed to robustly detect HFCs. 相似文献
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Genetic rescue is a management intervention whereby a small population is supplemented with individuals from other populations in an attempt to reverse the effects of inbreeding and increased genetic load. One such rescue was recently documented in the population of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) within the National Bison Range wildlife refuge (Montana, USA). Here, we examine the locus-specific effects of rescue in this population using a newly developed genome-wide set of 195 microsatellite loci and first-generation linkage map. We found that the rate of introgression varied among loci and that 111 loci, 57% of those examined, deviated from patterns of neutral inheritance. The most common deviation was an excess of homozygous genotypes relative to neutral expectations, indicative of directional selection. As in previous study of this rescue, individuals with more introduced alleles had higher reproductive success and longevity. In addition, we found 30 loci, distributed throughout the genome, which seem to have individual effects on these life history traits. Although the potential for outbreeding depression is a major concern when translocating individuals between populations, we found no evidence of such effects in this population. 相似文献
90.
Aaron B. A. Shafer Kevin S. White Steeve D. Côté David W. Coltman 《Conservation Genetics》2011,12(5):1261-1268
Human-mediated movement of wildlife is a common practice in North America. Some translocations have occurred where local populations
were thought to be extinct or simply not present. In Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago, mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) were not considered indigenous and were introduced to Baranof Island in 1923. However, a range-wide survey using microsatellites
and mitochondrial DNA revealed a distinct genetic subpopulation endemic to the island. In this study, we attempted to clarify
the evolutionary history of the mountain goats on Baranof Island by examining sequence variation in the Y chromosome. We first
screened five regions of the Y chromosome in a subset of mountain goats from across their native range. We detected a single
polymorphic site in the SRY promoter, and subsequently sequenced this gene in 100 mountain goats. A unique Y chromosome polymorphism
was restricted to Baranof Island and an area near Haines, Alaska, and not detected in the presumed source population. An island-to-mainland
dispersal scenario from a cryptic refugial population during the retreat of the Cordilleran ice-sheet would account for this
distribution. Overall, these data support the hypothesis that a glacial relict population of mountain goats was present on
the island prior to introduction. Based on a combination of mitochondrial, microsatellite, and Y chromosome data, we recommend
recognizing Baranof Island mountain goats as an evolutionary significant unit. 相似文献