Open AccessGenetic constraints on phenotypic evolution in Nigella (Ranunculaceae)
Author(s) -
Andersson Stefan
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8312.1997.tb00319.x
Subject(s) - biology , heritability , inbreeding , population , trait , evolutionary biology , ranunculaceae , genetic diversity , taxon , ecology , zoology , demography , sociology , computer science , programming language
The present investigation examines the role of genetic constraints in shaping evolutionary change in the Nigella arvensis species complex. Parent‐offspring analyses of two populations of N. degenii demonstrated high heritabilities for a wide range of vegetative and floral characters, indicating a great potential for further adaptive change. The populations differed significantly in the heritability for leaf length and in the genetic correlation between plant height and peduncle length, suggesting that these populations would respond differently to identical selection pressures. There was a tendency for large‐scale diversity to extrapolate within‐population variability, at least for the floral trait associations, while genetic data from a segregating F3 hybrid population indicated stability in the correlation structure across two environments. On the basis of hybrid data, I propose that inbreeding effects and pleiotropic relationships with leaf size may have facilitated the reduction in floral morphology accompanying the evolution of autogamy in related taxa.