Molecular and Developmental Signatures of Genital Size Macro-Evolution in Bugs.

ABSTRACT: Our understanding of the genetic architecture of phenotypic traits has experienced drastic growth over the last years. Nevertheless, the majority of studies associating genotypes and phenotypes have been conducted at the ontogenetic level. Thus, we still have an elusive knowledge of how these genetic-developmental architectures evolve themselves and how their evolution is mirrored in the phenotypic change across evolutionary time. We tackle this gap by reconstructing the evolution of male genital size, one of the most complex traits in insects, together with its underlying genetic architecture. Using the order Hemiptera as a model, spanning over 350 million years of evolution, we estimate the correlation between genitalia and three features: development rate, body size, and rates of DNA su

SUBMITTER: Genevcius BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9585474 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature