Abbott Jessica M, DuBois Katherine, Grosberg Richard K, Williams Susan L, Stachowicz John J
Center for Population Biology University of California Davis California.
Department of Evolution and Ecology University of California Davis California.
Ecol Evol. 2018 Jul 3;8(15):7476-7489. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4260. eCollection 2018 Aug.
Ecological studies often assume that genetically similar individuals will be more similar in phenotypic traits, such that genetic diversity can serve as a proxy for trait diversity. Here, we explicitly test the relationship between genetic relatedness and trait distance using 40 eelgrass () genotypes from five sites within Bodega Harbor, CA. We measured traits related to nutrient uptake, morphology, biomass and growth, photosynthesis, and chemical deterrents for all genotypes. We used these trait measurements to calculate a multivariate pairwise trait distance for all possible genotype combinations. We then estimated pairwise relatedness from 11 microsatellite markers. We found significant trait variation among genotypes for nearly every measured trait; however, there was no evidence of a significant correlation between pairwise genetic relatedness and multivariate trait distance among individuals. However, at the subpopulation level (sites within a harbor), genetic () and trait differentiation were positively correlated. Our work suggests that pairwise relatedness estimated from neutral marker loci is a poor proxy for trait differentiation between individual genotypes. It remains to be seen whether genomewide measures of genetic differentiation or easily measured "master" traits (like body size) might provide good predictions of overall trait differentiation.
生态研究通常假定，基因相似的个体在表型性状上也会更相似，这样基因多样性就可以作为性状多样性的一个替代指标。在此，我们使用来自加利福尼亚州博德加港内五个地点的40种大叶藻基因型，明确测试了遗传相关性与性状距离之间的关系。我们测量了所有基因型与养分吸收、形态、生物量和生长、光合作用以及化学防御相关的性状。我们利用这些性状测量值，计算了所有可能基因型组合的多变量成对性状距离。然后，我们从11个微卫星标记估计成对相关性。我们发现，几乎每个测量性状在基因型间都存在显著的性状变异；然而，没有证据表明个体间的成对遗传相关性与多变量性状距离之间存在显著相关性。不过，在亚种群水平（港口内的地点），遗传分化和性状分化呈正相关。我们的研究表明，从中性标记位点估计的成对相关性，对于个体基因型间的性状分化而言，是一个较差的替代指标。基因分化的全基因组测量方法或易于测量的“主要”性状（如体型）是否能很好地预测整体性状分化，仍有待观察。
