Environmental heterogeneity, genotype-by-environment interactions and the reliability of sexual traits as indicators of mate quality
Environmental heterogeneity, genotype-by-environment interactions and the reliability of sexual traits as indicators of mate quality
复制标题
DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2008.1592
复制
发表时间：
2009-03-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Reader, T.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Higginson, A. D.;Reader, T.
夸张的性展示往往被认为是表明间接的好处，女性可能会收到从有性生殖显示男性，但经验证据的遗传质量和性特征质量之间的正相关关系是很少的。其原因可能在于，生殖个体的发育受到基因型与环境相互作用（GEI）的影响，混合生殖个体可能会模糊个体雄性遗传质量与雌性所感知的表型之间的关系。强GEI可以产生生态交叉，其中不同的基因型在空间或时间上分离的环境中具有上级优势。在这里，我们使用一个随机模拟模型表明，即使是一个弱的GEI，这不会产生一个明显的生态交叉，可以中和甚至逆转的遗传质量和性性状大小之间的关系，在发展过程中的环境异质性的存在。我们的模型强调了发育选择在性状进化中的重要性，并使我们能够预测性表现可能不是遗传质量可靠指标的情况。
Exaggerated sexual displays are often supposed to indicate the indirect benefits females may receive from sexual reproduction with displaying males, but empirical evidence for positive relationships between the genetic quality and sexual trait quality is scant. The explanation for this might lie in the fact that mixing of reproductive individuals whose development has been influenced by genotype-by-environment interactions (GEIs) can blur the relationship between the individual male genetic quality and phenotype as perceived by females. Strong GEIs can generate an ecological crossover, where different genotypes are superior in environments that are separated either in space or time. Here, we use a stochastic simulation model to show that even a weak GEI, which does not generate an obvious ecological crossover, can neutralize or even reverse the relationship between genetic quality and sexual trait size in the presence of environmental heterogeneity during development. Our model highlights the importance of developmental selection in evolution of traits and allows us to predict the situations in which sexual displays might not be reliable indicators of genetic quality.