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Linking a mutation to survival in wild mice
Rowan D H Barrett1, Stefan Laurent2, Ricardo Mallarino3,4
1Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. rowan.barrett@mcgill.ca hoekstra@oeb.harvard.edu.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|February 2, 2019
Summary
Wild mice demonstrate adaptive evolution through changes in coat color. A mutation in the Agouti gene impacts survival and phenotype, influencing population allele frequencies and revealing natural selection mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- Ecology
Background:
- Predicting adaptive evolution is challenging due to complex genotype-phenotype-fitness links.
- Understanding how environmental changes drive evolutionary trajectories is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explicitly connect genotype, phenotype, and fitness in wild mice.
- To investigate the role of the Agouti gene in adaptive evolution.
- To illuminate the ecological consequences of genetic variation.
Main Methods:
- Field and laboratory experiments with wild mice.
- Estimating natural selection on pigmentation traits using experimental enclosures on varied soil colors.
- Analyzing the effect of an Agouti gene mutation on coat color and survival.
Main Results:
- Natural selection directly impacts pigmentation traits and the Agouti locus in response to soil color.
- A specific Agouti mutation leads to lighter coat color by altering protein binding properties.
- This mutation is associated with increased survival rates.
Conclusions:
- The Agouti gene mutation provides a direct link between genetic change, phenotypic alteration, and fitness.
- Ecological factors drive changes in population allele frequency, illustrating natural selection.
- This study clarifies the process of adaptive evolution driven by sequence variants.
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