CORRELATED CHARACTERS IN COMPLEX GENETIC SYSTEMS

自然选择通常作用于表型，但在没有表型的情况下是有效的 群体中个体之间的遗传变异。遗传 字符之间的相关性是由于无处不在的多效性 (多种)基因效应和连锁不平衡(非随机) 影响不同性状的等位基因之间的关联)。这些是 在确定对选择或随机的反应时尤其重要 小种群中的遗传漂移，因为遗传相关 角色不能独立进化。进化生物学家只是 开始解释遗传相关性在人类活动中的关键作用 限制了种群的进化。该项目将重点放在 复杂遗传系统中相关性状进化的模拟 关于比较形态、行为、生态学和古生物学的。 显式模型通过提出新的建议来帮助指导实证研究 要调查和确定重要参数的现象 量过了。这些研究将有助于澄清基本问题。 关于自然种群中相关性状的进化， 并将在虫害或疾病控制计划以及 人工繁殖实验。

Natural selection generally acts on phenotypes, but is in effective without genetic variation between individuals in a population. Genetic correlations between characters are due to ubiquitous pleiotropic (manifold) effects of genes, and linkage disequilibrium (nonrandom associations of alleles affecting different traits). These are particularly important in determining the response to selection, or random genetic drift in small populations, because genetically correlated characters cannot evolve independently. Evolutionary biologists are only beginning to account for the crucial role of genetic correlations in constraining the evolution of populations. This project will focus on modeling evolution of correlated characters in complex genetic systems pertaining to comparative morphology, behavior, ecology and paleontology. Explicit models help to guide empirical research by suggesting new phenomena to investigate and identifying important parameters to be measured. These studies will help to clarify fundamental questions concerning the evolution of correlated characters in natural populations, and will also have applications in pest or disease control programs and in artificial breeding experiments.