A sample set of 21 rice varieties composed of 20 BRRI developed modern rice varieties and one local variety was selected to detect the genetic variation by using 13 morphological traits, 14 physiological traits and 34 SSR markers. All these three methods divide the varieties into five clusters and showed that there exist high genetic variations among the genotypes. Cluster analysis showed that ...

Male genitalia are thought to be particularly rapidly evolving morphological structures, but there have been few quantitative interspecific comparisons between the evolutionary rates of genital and nongenital traits. We characterize the morphology of hemipenes in 25 Caribbean Anolis lizard species, and compare rates of hemipenial evolution to those of traits related to ecology or visual signali...

Environmental stress can alter genetic variation and covariation underlying functional traits, and thus affect adaptive evolution in response to natural selection. However, the genetic basis of functional traits is rarely examined in contrasting resource environments, and consequently, there is no consensus regarding whether environmental stress constrains or facilitates adaptive evolution. We ...

How does the organization of phenotypes relate to their propensity to vary? How do evolutionary changes in this organization affect large-scale phenotypic evolution? Over the last decade, studies of morphological integration and modularity have renewed our understanding of the organizational and variational properties of complex phenotypes. Much effort has been made to unravel the connections a...

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping studies of Pacific three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have uncovered several genomic regions controlling variability in different morphological traits, but QTL studies of Atlantic sticklebacks are lacking. We mapped QTL for 40 morphological traits, including body size, body shape, and body armor, in a F2 full-sib cross between northern Euro...

Adaptation of morphological, physiological, or life-history traits of a plant species to heterogeneous habitats through the process of natural selection is a paramount process in evolutionary biology. We have used a population genomic approach to disentangle selection-based and demography-based variation in morphological and life-history traits in the crucifer Diplotaxis harra (Forssk.) Boiss. ...

the oak genus (quercus l.) is one of the most important genera of beach family (fagaceae) that has ecological and economical importance. chestnutleaf oak (quercus castaneifolia c.a. mey.) is native to iran and distributed in hyrcanian forests. pure and mixed stands of this taxon have covered about 6.5 % of hyrcanian forests. this study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of ecological factor...

The heat shock protein Hsp90 has been the focus of many studies since it was suggested that it acts to mediate the buffering of phenotypic variation. Hsp90-mediated buffering may result in the accumulation of cryptic genetic variation that, when released either as a consequence of environmental or genetic stress, increases the evolvability of a population. Recent studies using laboratory-induce...