Genetic and environmental effects on morphological traits of social phenotypes in wasps.

ABSTRACT: Many species exhibit distinct phenotypic classes, such as sexes in dioecious species or castes in social species. The evolution of these classes is affected by the genetic architecture governing traits shared between phenotypes. However, estimates of the genetic and environmental factors contributing to phenotypic variation in distinct classes have rarely been examined. We studied the genetic architecture underlying morphological traits in phenotypic classes in the social wasp Vespula maculifrons. Our data revealed patriline effects on a few traits, indicating weak genetic influences on caste phenotypic variation. Interestingly, traits exhibited higher heritability in queens than workers. This result suggests that genetic variation has a stronger influence on trait variation in the queen c

SUBMITTER: Orr SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11286790 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature