Prey evolution on the time scale of predator-prey dynamics revealed by allele-specific quantitative PCR.

ABSTRACT: Using rotifer-algal microcosms, we tracked rapid evolution resulting from temporally changing natural selection in ecological predator-prey dynamics. We previously demonstrated that predator-prey oscillations in rotifer-algal laboratory microcosms are qualitatively altered by the presence of genetic variation within the prey. In that study, changes in algal gene frequencies were inferred from their effects on population dynamics but not observed directly. Here, we document rapid prey evolution in this system by directly observing changes in Chlorella vulgaris genotype frequencies as the abundances of these algae and their consumer, Brachionus calyciflorus, change through time. We isolated a group of algal clones that we could distinguish by using microsatellite-DNA markers, and developed a

SUBMITTER: Meyer JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1502293 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature