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MATERNAL INHERITANCE AND ITS EFFECT ON ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION: A QUANTITATIVE GENETIC ANALYSIS OF MATERNAL EFFECTS IN A NATURAL PLANT POPULATION
Author(s) -
Thiede Denise A.
Publication year - 1998
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.1558-5646.1998.tb01829.x
Subject(s) - mendelian inheritance , biology , inheritance (genetic algorithm) , non mendelian inheritance , trait , maternal effect , genetics , genetic model , population , offspring , evolutionary biology , gene , demography , pregnancy , sociology , computer science , mitochondrial dna , programming language
A mother can influence a trait in her offspring both by the genes she transmits (Mendelian inheritance) and by maternal attributes that directly affect that trait in her offspring (maternal inheritance). Maternal inheritance can alter the direction, rate, and duration of adaptive evolution from standard Mendelian models and its impact on adaptive evolution is virtually unexplored in natural populations. In a hierarchical quantitative genetic analysis to determine the magnitude and structure of maternal inheritance in the winter annual plant, Collinsia verna , I consider three potential models of inheritance. These range from a standard Mendelian model estimating only direct (i.e., Mendelian) additive and environmental variance components to a maternal inheritance model estimating six additive and environmental variance components: direct additive ( σ A o 2 ) and environmental ( σ E o 2 ) variances; maternal additive ( σ A m 2 ) and environmental ( σ E m 2 ) variances; and the direct‐maternal additive ( σ A p A m) and environmental ( σ E m 2 ) covariances. The structure of maternal inheritance differs among the 10 traits considered at four stages in the life cycle. Early in the life cycle, seed weight and embryo weight display substantialσ A m 2 , a negativeσ A o A m, and a positiveσ E o E m. Subsequently, cotyledon diameter displaysσ A o 2andσ A m 2of roughly the same magnitude and negativeσ A o A m. For fall rosettes, leaf number and length are best described by a Mendelian model. In the spring, leaf length displays maternal inheritance with significantσ A o 2andσ A m 2and a negativeσ A o A m. All maternally inherited traits show significant negativeσ A o A m. Predicted response to selection under maternal inheritance depends onσ A o 2andσ A m 2as well asσ A o A m. Negativeσ A o A mresults in predicted responses in the opposite direction to selection for seed weight and embryo weight and predicted responses near zero for all subsequent maternally inherited traits. Maternal inheritance persists through the life cycle of this annual plant for a number of size‐related traits and will alter the direction and rate of evolutionary response in this population.