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Path analysis of the genetic integration of traits in the sand cricket: a novel use of BLUPs
Author(s) -
ROFF D. A.,
FAIRBAIRN D. J.
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.1420-9101.2011.02315.x
Subject(s) - biology , path analysis (statistics) , quantitative genetics , evolutionary biology , wing , cricket , life history theory , heritability , concordance , genetic architecture , trade off , quantitative trait locus , genetics , life history , genetic variation , statistics , ecology , gene , mathematics , aerospace engineering , engineering
This study combines path analysis with quantitative genetics to analyse a key life history trade‐off in the cricket, Gryllus firmus. We develop a path model connecting five traits associated with the trade‐off between flight capability and reproduction and test this model using phenotypic data and estimates of breeding values (best linear unbiased predictors) from a half‐sibling experiment. Strong support by both types of data validates our causal model and indicates concordance between the phenotypic and genetic expression of the trade‐off. Comparisons of the trade‐off between sexes and wing morphs reveal that these discrete phenotypes are not genetically independent and that the evolutionary trajectories of the two wing morphs are more tightly constrained to covary than those of the two sexes. Our results illustrate the benefits of combining a quantitative genetic analysis, which examines statistical correlations between traits, with a path model that focuses upon the causal components of variation.