Correlated responses to clonal selection in populations of Daphnia pulicaria: mechanisms of genetic correlation and the creative power of sex

Evolutionary relationships between metabolism and behaviour require genetic correlations

As selection acts on multivariate phenotypes, the evolution of traits within populations not only depends on the genetic basis of each trait, but also on the genetic relationships among traits. As metabolic rate is often related to vital traits such as growth, physiology and behaviour, its variation and evolution is expected to have important repercussions on individual fitness. However, the majority of the correlations between metabolic rate and other traits has been based on phenotypic correlations, while genetic correlations, basis for indirect selection and evolution, have been overlooked. Using a case study, we explore the importance of properly estimating genetic correlations to understand and predict evolution of multivariate phenotypes. We show that selection on metabolic traits could result in indirect selection mainly on growth-related traits, owing to strong genetic correlations, but not on swimming or risk-taking and sociability behaviour even if they covary phenotypically. While phenotypic correlation can inform about genetic correlation direction, caution is needed in predicting the magnitude of genetic correlation. Therefore, even though phenotypic correlations among physiological and behavioural traits could be useful, deriving evolutionary conclusions based purely on them is not robust. In short, proper estimation of genetic correlations is needed when predicting evolutionary consequences. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolutionary significance of variation in metabolic rates'.

Pleiotropy, constraint, and modularity in the evolution of life histories: insights from genomic analyses

Multicellular organisms display an enormous range of life history (LH) strategies and present an evolutionary conundrum; despite strong natural selection, LH traits are characterized by high levels of genetic variation. To understand the evolution of life histories and maintenance of this variation, the specific phenotypic effects of segregating alleles and the genetic networks in which they act need to be elucidated. In particular, the extent to which LH evolution is constrained by the pleiotropy of alleles contributing to LH variation is generally unknown. Here, we review recent empirical results that shed light on this question, with an emphasis on studies employing genomic analyses. While genome-scale analyses are increasingly practical and affordable, they face limitations of genetic resolution and statistical power. We describe new research approaches that we believe can produce new insights and evaluate their promise and applicability to different kinds of organisms. Two approaches seem particularly promising: experiments that manipulate selection in multiple dimensions and measure phenotypic and genomic response and analytical approaches that take into account genome-wide associations between markers and phenotypes, rather than applying a traditional marker-by-marker approach.

Patterns and dynamics of rapid local adaptation and sex in varying habitat types in rotifers

Local adaptation is an important principle in a world of environmental change and might be critical for species persistence. We tested the hypothesis that replicated populations can attain rapid local adaptation under two varying laboratory environments. Clonal subpopulations of the cyclically parthenogenetic rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus were allowed to adapt to two varying harsh and a benign environment: a high-salt, a food-limited environment and untreated culture medium (no salt addition, high food). In contrast to most previous studies, we re-adjusted rotifer density to a fixed value (two individuals per ml) every 3–4 days of unrestricted population growth, instead of exchanging a fixed proportion of the culture medium. Thus our dilution regime specifically selected for high population growth during the entire experiment and it allowed us to continuously track changes in fitness (i.e., maximum population growth under the prevailing conditions) in each population. After 56 days (43 asexual and eight sexual generations) of selection, the populations in the harsh environments showed a significant increase in fitness over time relative to the beginning compared to the population in untreated culture medium. Furthermore, the high-salt population exhibited a significantly elevated ratio of sexual offspring from the start of the experiment, which suggested that this environment either triggered higher rates of sex or that the untreated medium and the food-limited environment suppressed sex. In a following assay of local adaptation we measured population fitness under “local” versus “foreign” conditions (populations adapted to this environment compared to those of the other environment) for both harsh habitats. We found significantly higher fitness values for the local populations (on average, a 38% higher fitness) compared to the foreign populations. Overall, local adaptation was formed rapidly and it seemed to be more pronounced in the high-salt treatment.