Contemporary ancestor? Adaptive divergence from standing genetic variation in Pacific marine threespine stickleback.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Populations that have repeatedly colonized novel environments are useful for studying the role of ecology in adaptive divergence - particularly if some individuals persist in the ancestral habitat. Such "contemporary ancestors" can be used to demonstrate the effects of selection by comparing phenotypic and genetic divergence between the derived population and their extant ancestors. However, evolution and demography in these "contemporary ancestors" can complicate inferences about the source (standing genetic variation, de novo mutation) and pace of adaptive divergence. Marine threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have colonized freshwater environments along the Pacific coast of North America, but have also persisted in the marine environment. To what extent ar

SUBMITTER: Morris MRJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6052716 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature