The effect of new environment on adapted genetic architecture

Abstract

Central to the study of life cycle evolution is the concept of genetic trade-offs. Genetic trade-offs between life cycle characters develop as a result of the accumulation of genes with antagonistic pleiotropic effects. In the present study a comparison was made between the genetic architecture that had evolved in the ancestral environment and the way that this genetic architecture was disrupted following transfer to a new environment. It was predicted that, in the ancestral environment, genetic trade-offs should have evolved between each life cycle character and, as a result of these genetic trade-offs, significant levels of additive genetic variation should remain despite many generations of selection.Following transfer to a new environment different genes might be expressed. Therefore, it was predicted that in the new environment the levels of additive genetic variation should increase and that the genetic trade-offs should break down. The predictions were well supported by the data.