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The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. III. Genetic correlations and fluctuating asymmetries
Author(s) -
Scheiner Samuel M.,
Caplan Roberta L.,
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.1420-9101.1991.4010051.x
Subject(s) - biology , fluctuating asymmetry , bristle , wing , phenotypic plasticity , thorax (insect anatomy) , mating , plasticity , evolutionary biology , drosophila melanogaster , heritability , mating design , genetics , botany , diallel cross , hybrid , brush , physics , aerospace engineering , gene , electrical engineering , engineering , thermodynamics
We examined the relationship of three aspects of development, phenotypic plasticity, genetic correlations among traits, and developmental noise, for thorax length, wing length, and number of sternopleural bristles in Drosophila melanogaster . We used 14 lines which had previously been selected on either thorax length or plasticity of thorax length in response to temperature. A half‐sib mating design was used and offspring were raised at 19° C or 25° C. We found that genetic correlations were stable across temperatures despite the large levels of plasticity of these traits. Plasticities were correlated among developmentally related traits, thorax and wing length, but not among unrelated traits, lengths and bristle counts. Amount of developmental noise, measured as fluctuating asymmetry and within‐environmental variation, was positively correlated with amount of plasticity only for some traits, thorax length and bristle number, and only at one temperature, 25° C.