Genetic basis of sexual dimorphism in the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus.

ABSTRACT: Sexual dimorphism (SD) in morphological, behavioural and physiological features is common, but the genetics of SD in the wild has seldom been studied in detail. We investigated the genetic basis of SD in morphological traits of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) by conducting a large breeding experiment with fish from an ancestral marine population that acts as a source of morphological variation. We also examined the patterns of SD in a set of 38 wild populations from different habitats to investigate the relationship between the genetic architecture of SD of the marine ancestral population in relation to variation within and among natural populations. The results show that genetic architecture in terms of heritabilities, additive genetic variances and covariances (as well as

SUBMITTER: Leinonen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3183875 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature