Abstract
We examined the short-term effects of genetic architecture on the response to correlational selection in the pitcher-plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii. Previously, a positive phenotypic and genetic correlation between development time and propensity to diapause had been identified. Correlational selection consisted of all four combinations of (1) fast and slow development time and (2) propensity to diapause and not diapause, 3 replicates per selection regime, for 1 to 3 generations. Response to selection in the direction of the correlation was rapid and generally consistent with the direction of selection while response orthogonal to the correlation was inconsistent and frequently in a direction opposite to the direction of selection. We conclude that genetic architecture can have a significant, and quite asymmetrical and non-directional, effect on the response to correlational selection.
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Scheiner, S.M., Istock, C.A. Correlational selection on life history traits in the pitcher-plant mosquito. Genetica 84, 123–128 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116552
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116552