Can one gene affect butterfly population growth?
Allelic variation at Pgi (or tightly linked loci) predicts population growth in the Glanville fritillary metapopulation.
Source
Molecular-level variation affects population growth in a butterfly metapopulation
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Can one gene affect butterfly population growth?
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The metapopulation network has approximately 4,000 small habitat patches.
This metapopulation occurs in a network of approximately 4,000 small habitat patches (dry meadows).
How large is the habitat network?
approximately 4,000 small habitat patches (dry meadows).
What they did
Authors genotyped natural butterfly populations across a large meadow network and tested whether molecular variation at candidate loci predicts demographic growth.
What they found
Pgi allelic variation associates with population growth; six other typed loci show no comparable effect, supporting a biologically meaningful Pgi link.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Association could still reflect linkage (e.g., inversion); causality is strongly suggested but not proven by transgenic replacement.
Key terms
- Pgi
- Phosphoglucose isomerase locus linked to flight/metabolism phenotypes.
- Metapopulation
- Network of local populations connected by dispersal.
- Allelic variation
- Different alleles segregating at a locus among individuals/populations.
- Population growth
- Change in local abundance over time.
- Linkage disequilibrium
- Non-random association of alleles at different loci.
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Focal locus:
Common questions
Which locus mattered?
Pgi.
Did other loci show the same effect?
No—six other loci lacked comparable effects.
Study system?
Glanville fritillary metapopulation.
Main caveat?
Could be linkage to nearby causal variation.
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