Investigating the genetic architecture of conditional strategies using the environmental threshold model

The threshold expression of dichotomous phenotypes that are environmentally cued or induced comprise the vast majority of phenotypic dimorphisms in color, morphology, behavior, and life history. Modeled as conditional strategies under the framework of evolutionary game theory, the quantitative genetic basis of these traits is a challenge to estimate. The challenge exists firstly because the phenotypic expression of the trait is dichotomous and secondly because the apparent environmental cue is separate from the biological signal pathway that induces the switch between phenotypes. It is the cryptic variation underlying the translation of cue to phenotype that we address here. With a ‘half-sib common environment’ and a ‘family level split environment’ experiment, we examine the environmental and genetic influences that underlie male dimorphism in the earwig Forficula auricularia. From the conceptual framework of the Latent Environmental Threshold (LET) model, we use pedigree information t...受环境触发或诱导的二态表型的阈值表达，构成了色彩、形态、行为与生活史中绝大多数的表型二态性。这类性状在进化博弈论框架下被建模为条件策略，但其数量遗传基础却难以估算。这一挑战主要源于两点：其一，该性状的表型表达为二态形式；其二，表观环境触发因子与诱导表型间转换的生物学信号通路相互独立。本研究聚焦于信号转导至表型过程中所隐藏的遗传变异。我们通过‘半同胞共同环境’与‘家系水平拆分环境’两种实验设计，对蠼螋（Forficula auricularia）雄性二态性背后的环境与遗传影响展开探究。基于潜在环境阈值（Latent Environmental Threshold, LET）模型的概念框架，我们利用系谱信息……