Lecture 8Short-Term Selection Response.ppt

Lecture 8Short-Term Selection Response R h2 S Applications of Artificial Selection Applications in agriculture and forestry Creation of model systems of human diseases and disorders Construction of genetically divergent lines for QTL mapping and gene expression microarray analysis Inferences about numbers of loci, effects and frequencies Evolutionary inferences: correlated characters, effects on fitness, long-term response, effect of mutations Response to Selection Selection can change the distribution of phenotypes, and we typically measure this by changes in mean This is a within-generation change Selection can also change the distribution of breeding values This is the response to selection, the change in the trait in the next generation the between-generation change The Selection Differential and the Response to Selection The selection differential S measures the within-generation change in the mean S m* - m The response R is the between-generation change in the mean R t m t+1 - m t The Breeders’ Equation: Translating S into R Note that no matter how strong S, if h2 is small, the response is small S is a measure of selection, R the actual response. One can get lots of selection but no response If offspring are asexual clones of their parents, the breeders’ equation becomes R H2 S If males and females subjected to differing amounts of selection, S Sf + Sm /2 An Example: Selection on seed number in plants -- pollination males is random, so that S Sf/2 Response over multiple generations Strictly speaking, the breeders’ equation only holds for predicting a single generation of response from an unselected base population Practically speaking, the breeders’ equation is usually pretty good for 5-10 generations The validity for an initial h2 predicting response over several generations depends on: The reliability of the initial h2 estimate Absence of environmental change between generations The absence of genetic change between the gen