Phenotypic stasis with genetic divergence.

ABSTRACT: Whether or not genetic divergence in the short-term of tens to hundreds of generations is compatible with phenotypic stasis remains a relatively unexplored problem. We evolved predominantly outcrossing, genetically diverse populations of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans under a constant and homogeneous environment for 240 generations and followed individual locomotion behavior. Although founders of lab populations show highly diverse locomotion behavior, during lab evolution, the component traits of locomotion behavior - defined as the transition rates in activity and direction - did not show divergence from the ancestral population. In contrast, transition rates' genetic (co)variance structure showed a marked divergence from the ancestral state and differentiation among replicat

SUBMITTER: Mallard F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11434230 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature