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Quantitative genetics of larval life-history traits in Rana temporaria in different environmental conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2005

ANE T. LAUGEN ,
LOESKE E. B. KRUUK ,
ANSSI LAURILA ,
KATJA RÄSÄNEN ,
JONATHAN STONE  and
JUHA MERILÄ
ANE T. LAUGEN
Affiliation:
Population Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
LOESKE E. B. KRUUK
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
ANSSI LAURILA
Affiliation:
Population Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
KATJA RÄSÄNEN
Affiliation:
Population Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden Present address: McGill University, Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada.
JONATHAN STONE
Affiliation:
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 d, SE-752 32 Uppsala, Sweden Present address: McMaster University, Department of Biology, Life Sciences Building, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
JUHA MERILÄ
Affiliation:
Population Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden Present address: Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Bio- and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
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Abstract

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The degree to which genetic variation in a given trait varies among different populations of the same species and across different environments has seldom been quantified in wild vertebrate species. We investigated the expression of genetic variability and maternal effects in three larval life-history traits of the amphibian Rana temporaria. In a factorial laboratory experiment, five widely separated populations (max. 1600 km) were subjected to two different environmental treatments. Animal model analyses revealed that all traits were heritable (h2≈0·20) in all populations and under most treatment combinations. Although the cross-food treatment genetic correlations were close to unity, heritabilities under a restricted food regime tended to be lower than those under an ad libitum food regime. Likewise, maternal effects (m2≈0·05) were detected in most traits, and they tended to be most pronounced under restricted food conditions. We detected several cross-temperature genetic and maternal effects correlations that were lower than unity, suggesting that genotype–environment interactions and maternal effect–environment interactions are a significant source of phenotypic variation. The results reinforce the perspective that although the expression of genetic and maternal effects may be relatively homogeneous across different populations of the same species, local variation in environmental conditions can lead to significant variation in phenotypic expression of quantitative traits through genotype–environment and maternal effect–environment interactions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , December 2005 , pp. 161 - 170
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press