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Predicting the response to simultaneous selection: genetic architecture and physiological constraints.

Goggy Davidowitz¹, H Frederik Nijhout, Derek A Roff

¹Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, 1140 E South Campus Drive, Forbes 410, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. goggy@email.arizona.edu

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution

|September 6, 2012

Summary

The study reveals how physiological traits, like hormonal events and growth rate (GR), influence evolutionary responses in hawkmoths. Genetic architecture dictates whether hormonal mechanisms or GR dominate selection on life-history traits.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Physiological Genetics

Background:

Body size and development time are key life-history traits with significant evolutionary implications.
These traits arise from complex interactions between hormonal events and growth rate (GR).

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of genetic architecture in physiological traits influencing simultaneous selection on life-history traits.
To understand how hormonal mechanisms and GR mediate evolutionary responses in Manduca sexta.

Main Methods:

Simulated 10 generations of selection to predict responses.
Analyzed the genetic architecture of hormonal events and growth rate.

Main Results:

83% of simulated predictions were supported.
Selection in the same direction on life-history traits is dominated by hormonal mechanisms.
Selection in opposite directions is primarily influenced by growth rate.

Conclusions:

The genetic architecture of physiological traits provides a robust framework for understanding life-history evolution.
This framework is applicable across diverse organisms, from unicellular life to plants and vertebrates.