Natural selection and the genetics of adaptation in threespine stickleback

Growing knowledge of the molecular basis of adaptation in wild populations is expanding the study of natural selection. We summarize ongoing efforts to infer three aspects of natural selection—mechanism, form and history—from the genetics of adaptive evolution in threespine stickleback that colonize...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2010-08, Vol.365 (1552), p.2479-2486
Main Authors: Schluter, Dolph, Marchinko, Kerry B., Barrett, R. D. H., Rogers, Sean M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Biological - genetics
Alleles
Animals
Armor
Biological adaptation
Biological Evolution
Bone Development - genetics
Ectodysplasin
Ectodysplasins - genetics
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
Fresh water
Freshwater
Genetics Of Adaptation
Genotype
Lakes
Models, Genetic
Natural Selection
Phenotype
Phenotypic traits
Population genetics
Selection, Genetic
Smegmamorpha - genetics
Stickleback
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Summary:Growing knowledge of the molecular basis of adaptation in wild populations is expanding the study of natural selection. We summarize ongoing efforts to infer three aspects of natural selection—mechanism, form and history—from the genetics of adaptive evolution in threespine stickleback that colonized freshwater after the last ice age. We tested a mechanism of selection for reduced bony armour in freshwater by tracking genotype and allele frequency changes at an underlying major locus (Ectodysplasin) in transplanted stickleback populations. We inferred disruptive selection on genotypes at the same locus in a population polymorphic for bony armour. Finally, we compared the distribution of phenotypic effect sizes of genes underlying changes in body shape with that predicted by models of adaptive peak shifts following colonization of freshwater. Studies of the effects of selection on genes complement efforts to identify the molecular basis of adaptive differences, and improve our understanding of phenotypic evolution.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2010.0036