Quantitative genetic and translocation experiments reveal genotype-by-environment effects on juvenile life-history traits in two populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Understanding the genetic architecture of phenotypic plasticity is required to assess how populations might respond to heterogeneous or changing environments. Although several studies have examined population-level patterns in environmental heterogeneity and plasticity, few studies have examined ind...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2010-04, Vol.23 (4), p.687-698
Main Authors: EVANS, M.L, NEFF, B.D, HEATH, D.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adaptation
additive genetic variation
Animal populations
Animals
Body Size - genetics
Body Size - physiology
Brackish
Environment
Experiments
Female
Freshwater
Genetic Variation
Genetics
Genotype
Genotype & phenotype
genotype-by-environment
growth
Longevity - genetics
Male
Marine
maternal effect
maternal effects
Microsatellite Repeats
mortality
nonadditive genetic variation
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Rivers
Salmon
Salmon - genetics
Salmon - growth & development
survival
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Understanding the genetic architecture of phenotypic plasticity is required to assess how populations might respond to heterogeneous or changing environments. Although several studies have examined population-level patterns in environmental heterogeneity and plasticity, few studies have examined individual-level variation in plasticity. Here, we use the North Carolina II breeding design and translocation experiments between two populations of Chinook salmon to detail the genetic architecture and plasticity of offspring survival and growth. We followed the survival of 50 800 offspring through the larval stage and used parentage analysis to examine survival and growth through freshwater rearing. In one population, we found that additive genetic, nonadditive genetic and maternal effects explained 25%, 34% and 55% of the variance in larvae survival, respectively. In the second population, these effects explained 0%, 24% and 61% of the variance in larvae survival. In contrast, fry survival was regulated primarily by additive genetic effects, which indicates a shift from maternal to genetic effects as development proceeds. Fry growth also showed strong additive genetic effects. Translocations between populations revealed that offspring survival and growth varied between environments, the degree of which differed among families. These results indicate genetic differences among individuals in their degree of plasticity and consequently their ability to respond to environmental variation.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01934.x