Abstract
Sexual reproduction in cyclically parthenogenetic Daphnia species is a critical life history component. To investigate the nature of variation of the intensity of sexual reproduction (ISR) in Daphnia, and to measure the relative importance of different aspects of the variation, 30 random clones from a Daphnia pulicaria population were tested in a factorial design involving five photoperiods and two food concentrations. The results revealed that the ISR, indexed by the number of resting eggs produced, is influenced significantly by both the environmental conditions employed (photoperiod, food) and genetic factors (clonal effects within single environments and clone-photo-food interaction across environments). At the population level, a critical photoperiod exists (14 h light/day) for sexual reproduction to be initiated. There are significant differences among the estimates of the genetic variation for the ISR across some environments, signifying that the measurement of genetic variability in one environment has limited value for inferring the magnitude of genetic variability in other environments. There is highly significant genotype-environment (G × E) interaction, accounting for about 37.5 per cent of the total variance of the ISR. The results are discussed in the context of the population's adaptation to the ecological surroundings and the maintenance of genetic variability for the ISR in a particular environment.
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Deng, HW. Environmental and genetic control of sexual reproduction in Daphnia. Heredity 76, 449–458 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1996.67
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1996.67
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