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Population genetic diversity and fitness in multiple environments
Citation:
MARKERT, J., D. M. CHAMPLIN, R. E. GUTJAHR-GOBELL, J. S. GREAR, A. KUHN, T. J. McGreevy, A. C. ROTH, M. BAGLEY, AND D. E. NACCI. Population genetic diversity and fitness in multiple environments. BMC Evolutionary Biology. BioMed Central Ltd, London, Uk, 10(1):205, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
We addressed these issues using experimentally manipulated populations of an estuarine crustacean, Americamysis bahia. We created replicate cultures with five distinct levels of genetic diversity and monitored them for 16 weeks in both permissive (ambient seawater) and stressfur conditions (diluted seawater). The relationship between molecular genetic diversity at presumptive neutral loci and population vulnerability was assessed with AFLP analysis.
Description:
When a large number of alleles are lost from a population, increases in homozygosity may reduce individual fitness through inbreeding depression. Modest losses of allelic diversity may also negatively impact long-term population viability by reducing the capacity of populations to adapt to altered environments. However, it is not clear how much genetic diversity within populations may be lost before populations are put at significant risk. Development of tools to evaluate this relationship would be a valuable contribution to conservation biology.