The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. XIII. Interactions with developmental instability.

ABSTRACT: In a heterogeneous environment, natural selection on a trait can lead to a variety of outcomes, including phenotypic plasticity and bet-hedging through developmental instability. These outcomes depend on the magnitude and pattern of that heterogeneity and the spatial and temporal distribution of individuals. However, we do not know if and how those two outcomes might interact with each other. I examined the joint evolution of plasticity and instability through the use of an individual-based simulation in which each could be genetically independent or pleiotropically linked. When plasticity and instability were determined by different loci, the only effect on the evolution of plasticity was the elimination of plasticity as a bet-hedging strategy. In contrast, the effects on the evolution of

SUBMITTER: Scheiner SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4020694 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature