Testing evolutionary theory: from genome to phenotype and back again
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Biology
Abstract
What do we get from continuing to develop and test evolutionary theory? The picture of evolution we have inherited from the Modern Synthesis is a rich and varied one. We have a good understanding of the genetic inheritance of traits, an appreciation of the role of genetic drift in shaping molecular variation, and have increasingly been able to measure and observe natural selection in the wild. Our recent advances in theory and experiment have added considerable sophistication to our basic view of Darwinian evolution, highlighting the role of genetic constraints on evolution, indirect genetic effects and also conflicts of interest between individuals of the two sexes. But for all the tremendous successes of these developments, it has often been very hard to judge how important each one is in explaining variation in the organisms we see around us. Yet this is what we need to do if we wish to find more general patterns in how organisms adapt and evolve. The main stumbling block has been a lack of traits about which we know a lot about how natural selection should work; only with this information can we begin to ask to what extent is variation from the expected pattern explicable in terms of genetic constraints, sexual conflict and so on. I will use two traits where we do know how natural selection should be acting, sex allocation and female re-mating rate, as model systems to test the importance of aspects of current evolutionary theory. Using the sex ratio decisions of female parasitic wasps, I will explore how genetic architecture and opposing forces of natural selection influence adaptation. Using the mating behaviour of a promiscuous seed bug, I will explore how conflicts of interest between males and females over whether to mate influence other aspects of an organism's biology, such as how long they live, how many offspring they have, and how big they grow. With a mixture of genetic analysis and behavioural experiments in the field and in the laboratory, I will untangle how different evolutionary processes work, and estimate their importance quantitatively. The results will give us valuable insights into how important particular genetic and environmental factors are in limiting the extent to which animals adapt themselves to their surroundings.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| David Shuker (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Abbot P
(2011)
Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality.
in Nature
Beukeboom LW
(2010)
A comparison of recombination frequencies in intraspecific versus interspecific mapping populations of Nasonia.
in Heredity
Burdfield-Steel ER
(2011)
Reproductive interference.
in Current biology : CB
Burdfield-Steel ER
(2015)
Do the benefits of polyandry scale with outbreeding?
in Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
Evans G
(2015)
Patterns of reproductive isolation within and between two Lygaeus species characterized by sexual conflicts over mating
in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Fairlie-Clarke KJ
(2009)
Why do adaptive immune responses cross-react?
in Evolutionary applications
Graham A
(2010)
Fitness consequences of immune responses: strengthening the empirical framework for ecoimmunology
in Functional Ecology
Herre EA
(2011)
Social evolution: evolving sex ratios.
in Current biology : CB
Isaac N
(2011)
Distance sampling and the challenge of monitoring butterfly populations
in Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Ivens AB
(2009)
Host acceptance and sex allocation of Nasonia wasps in response to conspecifics and heterospecifics.
in Proceedings. Biological sciences
Keller L
(2011)
Inbreeding and selection on sex ratio in the bark beetle Xylosandrus germanus.
in BMC evolutionary biology
Lewis HM
(2010)
Constraints on adaptation: explaining deviation from optimal sex ratio using artificial neural networks.
in Journal of evolutionary biology
Little TJ
(2010)
The coevolution of virulence: tolerance in perspective.
in PLoS pathogens
Moynihan AM
(2011)
Sexual selection on male development time in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis.
in Journal of evolutionary biology
Niehuis O
(2010)
Recombination and its impact on the genome of the haplodiploid parasitoid wasp Nasonia.
in PloS one
Pannebakker BA
(2010)
The distribution of microsatellites in the Nasonia parasitoid wasp genome.
in Insect molecular biology
Pannebakker BA
(2011)
The quantitative genetic basis of sex ratio variation in Nasonia vitripennis: a QTL study.
in Journal of evolutionary biology
Pannebakker BA
(2013)
The transcriptomic basis of oviposition behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis.
in PloS one
Ross L
(2010)
Genomic conflict in scale insects: the causes and consequences of bizarre genetic systems.
in Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
Ross L
(2011)
The evolution and suppression of male suicide under paternal genome elimination.
in Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
Ross L
(2011)
Temperature, age of mating and starvation determine the role of maternal effects on sex allocation in the mealybug Planococcus citri.
in Behavioral ecology and sociobiology
Ross L
(2009)
Scale insects.
in Current biology : CB
Ross Laura
(2010)
Sex allocation in a species with paternal genome elimination: the roles of crowding and female age in the mealybug Planococcus citri
in EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY RESEARCH
Rowntree JK
(2011)
Forward from the crossroads of ecology and evolution.
in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
| Description | We now know that adaptive sex allocation in Nasonia wasps is not associated with changes in gene expression, but is nonetheless highly polygenic. |
| Exploitation Route | Many ways |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |