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The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. II. Response to selection
Author(s) -
Scheiner Samuel M.,
Lyman Richard F.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1420-9101.1991.4010023.x
Subject(s) - biology , phenotypic plasticity , epistasis , pleiotropy , overdominance , plasticity , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , genetic variation , genetics , adaptation (eye) , phenotype , allele , neuroscience , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science , gene , thermodynamics
We selected on phenotypic plasticity of thorax size in response to temperature in Drosophila melanogaster using a family selection scheme. The results were compared to those of lines selected directly on thorax size. We found that the plasticity of a character does respond to selection and this response is partially independent of the response to selection on the mean of the character. One puzzling result was that a selection limit of zero plasticity was reached in the lines selected for decreased plasticity yet additive genetic variation for plasticity still existed in the lines. We tested the predictions of three models of the genetic basis of phenotypic plasticity: overdominance, pleiotropy, and epistasis. The results mostly support the epistasis model, that the plasticity of a character is determined by separate loci from those determining the mean of the character.