Investigation of the Influence of Social Interactions on the Genetics and Joint Evolution of Aggressiveness and Body Size

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of a social trait (aggressiveness) on other traits that are associated with general body condition (e.g., rate of growth, body size and mass). Because the usual approach of genetic analyses of traits is to carefully control for environmental variation, the potential for social or competitive interactions is usually eliminated. This produces an inaccurate view of the genetic architecture of sets of characters that may co-evolve in a competitive environment. Here, a quantitative genetic study of an invertebrate test system will compare the genetic variance-covariance structure of aggressiveness and growth rate and size at maturation under social vs non-social environments. The findings will be used in the development of a theoretical model that explores the evolution of these characters, predicting the dynamics of the social and general condition traits in natural environments. Understanding the genetic architecture of traits is the major goal of applied quantitative genetics, allowing us to predict response to artificial selection for improvement in crops and livestock. Most agriculturally important characters are probably influenced by social or competitive interactions, yet the interaction effect has not been considered. This study should significantly advance our ability to predict how characters important to yield and production evolve in agricultural systems.