Premium
Evolution and stability of the G‐matrix during the colonization of a novel environment
Author(s) -
EROUKHMANOFF F.,
SVENSSON E. I.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02270.x
Subject(s) - ecotype , biology , adaptation (eye) , divergence (linguistics) , evolutionary biology , colonization , genetic variation , phenotypic plasticity , phenotype , microevolution , genetic divergence , parallel evolution , ecology , genetics , phylogenetics , genetic diversity , gene , population , philosophy , linguistics , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Populations that undergo a process of rapid evolution present excellent opportunities to investigate the mechanisms driving or restraining adaptive divergence. The genetic variance–covariance matrix ( G ) is often considered to constrain adaptation but little is known about its potential to evolve during phenotypic divergence. We compared the G ‐matrices of ancestral and recently established ecotype populations of an aquatic isopod ( Asellus aquaticus ) that have diverged in parallel in two south Swedish lakes. Phenotypic changes after colonization involved a reduction in overall size, lost pigmentation and changes in shape. Comparisons between G ‐matrices reveal close similarity within the same ecotype from different lakes but some degree of differentiation among ecotypes. Phenotypic divergence has apparently not been much influenced by the orientation of G . Additive genetic variation in the newly colonized habitats has also decreased substantially. This suggests that a process of adaptation from standing genetic variation has occurred and has probably facilitated phenotypic divergence.