scholarly journals Bigger Is Fitter? Quantitative Genetic Decomposition of Selection Reveals an Adaptive Evolutionary Decline of Body Mass in a Wild Rodent Population

PLoS Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e1002592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothée Bonnet ◽  
Peter Wandeler ◽  
Glauco Camenisch ◽  
Erik Postma
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Rodent Population ◽  
Quantitative Genetic

scholarly journals Bigger Is Fitter? Quantitative Genetic Decomposition of Selection Reveals an Adaptive Evolutionary Decline of Body Mass in a Wild Rodent Population

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnet Timothée ◽  
Wandeler Peter ◽  
Camenisch Glauco ◽  
Postma Erik
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Adaptive Evolution ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Rodent Population ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Evolutionary Response

AbstractIn natural populations, quantitative trait dynamics often do not appear to follow evolutionary predictions: Despite abundant examples of natural selection acting on heritable traits, conclusive evidence for contemporary adaptive evolution remains rare for wild vertebrate populations, and phenotypic stasis seems to be the norm. This so-called ‘stasis paradox’ highlights our inability to predict evolutionary change, which is especially concerning within the context of rapid anthropogenic environmental change. While the causes underlying the stasis paradox are hotly debated, comprehensive attempts aiming at a resolution are lacking. Here we apply a quantitative genetic framework to individual-based long-term data for a wild rodent population and show that despite a positive association between body mass and fitness, there has been a genetic change towards lower body mass. The latter represents an adaptive response to viability selection favouring juveniles growing up to become relatively small adults, i.e. with a low potential adult mass, which presumably complete their development earlier. This selection is particularly strong towards the end of the snow-free season, and it has intensified in recent years, coinciding which a change in snowfall patterns. Importantly, neither the negative evolutionary change, nor the selective pressures that drive it, are apparent on the phenotypic level, where they are masked by phenotypic plasticity and a non-causal (i.e. non-genetic) positive association between body mass and fitness, respectively. Estimating selection at the genetic level thereby enabled us to uncover adaptive evolution in action, and to identify the corresponding phenotypic selective pressure. We thereby demonstrate that natural populations can show a rapid and adaptive evolutionary response to a novel selective pressure, and that explicitly (quantitative) genetic models are able to provide us with an understanding of the causes and consequences of selection that is superior to purely phenotypic estimates of selection and evolutionary change.

scholarly journals Polymorphisms at the innate immune receptor TLR2 are associated with Borrelia infection in a wild rodent population

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1759) ◽  
pp. 20130364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Tschirren ◽  
Martin Andersson ◽  
Kristin Scherman ◽  
Helena Westerdahl ◽  
Peer R. E. Mittl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Innate Immune ◽  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Immune Receptor ◽  
Innate Immune Receptor ◽  
Rodent Population

scholarly journals Decomposing variation in immune response in a wild rodent population

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klara M. Wanelik ◽  
Mike Begon ◽  
Elena Arriero ◽  
Janette E. Bradley ◽  
Ida M. Friberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Immune Response ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Microtus Agrestis ◽  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Rodent Population ◽  
Immune Pathways ◽  
Underlying Processes

AbstractIndividuals vary in their immune response and, as a result, some are more susceptible to infectious disease than others. Little is known about which components of immune pathways are responsible for this variation, but understanding these underlying processes could allow us to predict the outcome of infection for an individual, and to manage their health more effectively. In this study, we describe transcriptome-wide variation in immune response (to a standardised challenge) in a wild population of field voles (Microtus agrestis). We find that this variation can be categorised into three main types. We also identify markers, across these three categories, which display particularly strong individual variation in response. This work shows how a simple standardised challenge performed on a natural population can reveal complex patterns of natural variation in immune response.

scholarly journals Temporally fluctuating selection on a personality trait in a wild rodent population

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1285-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie Le Cœur ◽  
Martin Thibault ◽  
Benoît Pisanu ◽  
Sophie Thibault ◽  
Jean-Louis Chapuis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Trait ◽  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Fluctuating Selection ◽  
Rodent Population

Prevalence ofToxoplasmainfection in a wild rodent population from central Scotland

1983 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 653-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hay ◽  
W. M. Hutchison ◽  
M. H. Jackson ◽  
J. Chr. Siim
Keyword(s):  
Wild Rodent ◽  
Rodent Population

scholarly journals Endocranial volume is variable and heritable, but not related to fitness, in a free-ranging primate

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail E. Colby ◽  
Clare M. Kimock ◽  
James P. Higham
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Genetic Approach ◽  
Selection Gradients ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Endocranial Volume ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractLarge relative brain size is a defining characteristic of the order Primates. Arguably, this can be attributed to selection for behavioral aptitudes linked to a larger brain size. In order for selection of a trait to occur, the trait must vary, that variation must be heritable, and enhance fitness. In this study, we use a quantitative genetic approach to investigate the production and maintenance of variation in endocranial volume in a population of free-ranging rhesus macaques. We measured the endocranial volume and body mass proxies of 542 rhesus macaques from Cayo Santiago. We investigated variation in endocranial volume within and between sexes. Using a genetic pedigree, we estimated heritability of absolute and relative endocranial volume, and selection gradients of both traits as well as estimated body mass in the sample. Within this population, both absolute and relative endocranial volume display variation and sexual dimorphism. Both absolute and relative endocranial volume are highly heritable, but we found no evidence of selection on absolute or relative endocranial volume. These findings suggest that endocranial volume is not undergoing selection, or that we did not detect it because selection is neither linear nor quadratic, or that we lacked sufficient sample sizes to detect it.

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