PATTERNS OF GENETIC ARCHITECTURE FOR LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS AND MOLECULAR MARKERS IN A SUBDIVIDED SPECIES

CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF QUANTITATIVE AND NEUTRAL GENETIC VARIATION IN LOCALLY ADAPTED POPULATIONS OF THE NATTERJACK TOAD, BUFO CALAMITA

The relative importance of natural selection and genetic drift in determining patterns of phenotypic diversity observed in nature is still unclear. The natterjack toad (Bufo calamita) is one of a few amphibian species capable of breeding in saline ponds, even though water salinity represents a considerable stress for them. Results from two common-garden experiments showed a pattern of geographic variation in embryonic salinity tolerance among populations from either fresh or brackish environments, consistent with the hypothesis of local adaptation. Full-sib analysis showed increased variation in survival among sibships within population for all populations as osmotic stress was increased (broad-sense heritability increased as salinity raised). Nevertheless, toads native to the brackish water environment had the highest overall survival under brackish conditions. Levels of population genetic differentiation for salinity tolerance were higher than those of neutral genetic differentiation, the latter obtained through the analysis of eight microsatellite loci. Microsatellite markers also revealed little population differentiation, lack of an isolation-by-distance pattern, and moderate gene flow connecting the populations. Therefore, environmental stress tolerance appears to have evolved in absence of geographic isolation, and consequently we reject the null hypothesis of neutral differentiation.

MOLECULAR AND QUANTITATIVE TRAIT VARIATION WITHIN AND AMONG POPULATIONS OF THE INTERTIDAL COPEPOD TIGRIOPUS CALIFORNICUS

While molecular and quantitative trait variation may be theoretically correlated, empirical studies using both approaches frequently reveal discordant patterns, and these discrepancies can contribute to our understanding of evolutionary processes. Here, we assessed genetic variation in six populations of the copepod Tigriopus californicus. Molecular variation was estimated using five polymorphic microsatellite loci, and quantitative variation was measured using 22-life history and morphometric characters. Within populations, no correlation was found between the levels of molecular variation (heterozygosity) and quantitative variation (heritability). Between populations, quantitative subdivision (Q(ST)) was correlated with molecular subdivision when measured as F(ST) but not when measured as R(ST). Unlike most taxa studied to date, the overall level of molecular subdivision exceeded the level of quantitative subdivision (F(ST) = 0.80, R(ST) = 0.89, Q(ST) = 0.30). Factors that could contribute to this pattern include stabilizing or fluctuating selection on quantitative traits or accelerated rates of molecular evolution.