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Induction and Evaluation of Inbreeding Crosses Using the Ant, Vollenhovia Emeryi
Published on: October 5, 2018
The change in quantitative genetic variation with inbreeding.
Josh Van Buskirk1, Yvonne Willi
1Institute of Zoology, University of Zürich, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland. jvb@zool.unizh.ch
Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|February 1, 2007
Summary
Inbreeding impacts genetic variation differently across traits. Life-history traits show increased additive genetic variance (V(A)) and heritability (h2) with inbreeding, unlike nonfitness traits.
Area of Science:
- Quantitative genetics
- Evolutionary biology
- Population genetics
Background:
- Inbreeding's effect on quantitative genetic variation is debated.
- Theory predicts linear or nonlinear changes in additive genetic variance (V(A)) and heritability (h2) based on genetic architecture.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between inbreeding and quantitative genetic variation.
- To determine if inbreeding increases or decreases V(A) and h2.
Main Methods:
- Meta-analysis of 22 studies comparing inbred and outbred populations.
- Examination of V(A) and h2 across varying inbreeding coefficients (F).
Main Results:
- Life-history traits showed a nonlinear increase in V(A) and h2 with inbreeding (F=0.4).
- Dominance and epistasis were substantial for life-history traits.
- Nonfitness traits exhibited a linear decline in V(A) and h2, with minimal nonadditive variance.
Conclusions:
- Population bottlenecks can increase V(A) for certain traits.
- Life-history traits are influenced by significant dominance and epistasis.
- The role of drift-induced variation in conservation is uncertain due to inbreeding depression.
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