Phenotypic Plasticity Promotes Balanced Polymorphism in Periodic Environments by a Genomic Storage Effect

Phenotypic plasticity is known to evolve in perturbed habitats, where it alleviates the deleterious effects of selection. But the effects of plasticity on levels of genetic polymorphism, an important precursor to adaptation in temporally varying environments, are unclear. Here we develop a haploid,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGenetics (Austin) Vol. 202; no. 4; pp. 1437 - 1448
Main Authors Gulisija, Davorka, Kim, Yuseob, Plotkin, Joshua B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Genetics Society of America 01.04.2016
Subjects
Adaptation
Algorithms
Alleles
Computer Simulation
Environment
Environmental changes
Environmental conditions
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Frequency
Gene-Environment Interaction
Genetic diversity
Genetics, Population
Genomics
Haplotypes
Investigations
Models, Genetic
Monte Carlo Method
Monte Carlo simulation
Mutation
Phenotype
Plasticity
Polymorphism
Polymorphism, Genetic
Population
Selection, Genetic
Studies
phenotypic plasticity
temporally varying selection
storage effect
balanced polymorphism
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Summary:Phenotypic plasticity is known to evolve in perturbed habitats, where it alleviates the deleterious effects of selection. But the effects of plasticity on levels of genetic polymorphism, an important precursor to adaptation in temporally varying environments, are unclear. Here we develop a haploid, two-locus population-genetic model to describe the interplay between a plasticity modifier locus and a target locus subject to periodically varying selection. We find that the interplay between these two loci can produce a “genomic storage effect” that promotes balanced polymorphism over a large range of parameters, in the absence of all other conditions known to maintain genetic variation. The genomic storage effect arises as recombination allows alleles at the two loci to escape more harmful genetic backgrounds and associate in haplotypes that persist until environmental conditions change. Using both Monte Carlo simulations and analytical approximations we quantify the strength of the genomic storage effect across a range of selection pressures, recombination rates, plasticity modifier effect sizes, and environmental periods.
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ISSN:1943-2631
0016-6731
1943-2631
DOI:10.1534/genetics.115.185702