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TESTING LIFE‐HISTORY PLEIOTROPY IN CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS
Author(s) -
Knight Christopher G.,
Azevedo Ricardo B. R.,
Leroi Armand M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00828.x
Subject(s) - biology , quantitative trait locus , pleiotropy , genetics , fertility , caenorhabditis elegans , quantitative genetics , allele , evolutionary biology , genetic architecture , life history theory , gene , phenotype , population , genetic variation , life history , ecology , demography , sociology
Much life‐history theory assumes that alleles segregating in natural populations pleiotropically affect life‐history traits. This assumption, while plausible, has rarely been tested directly. Here we investigate the genetic relationship between two traits often suggested to be connected by pleiotropy: maternal body size and fertility. We carry out a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis on two isolates of the free‐living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans , and identify two body size and three fertility QTLs. We find that one of the fertility QTLs colocalizes with the two body size QTLs on Chromosome IV. Further analysis, however, shows that these QTLs are genetically separable. Thus, none of the five body size or fertility QTLs identified here shows detectable pleiotropy for the assayed traits. The evolutionary origin of these QTLs, possible candidate loci, and the significance for life‐history evolution are discussed.