You collect observations of red deer within a generation, recording each individual's phenotypes for a number of traits which are known to have additive genetic variation. You also count the number of offspring per individual (a measurement of fitness). Using your data, you construct the plots shown in the figures below (standardizing the phenotypes). Answer the following questions, and briefly justify each of your answers with reference to the breeder's equation and/or multi-trait breeder's equation.
Genetic Variation
Genetic variation refers to the variation in the genome sequences between individual organisms of a species. Individual differences or population differences can both be referred to as genetic variations. It is primarily caused by mutation, but other factors such as genetic drift and sexual reproduction also play a major role.
Quantitative Genetics
Quantitative genetics is the part of genetics that deals with the continuous trait, where the expression of various genes influences the phenotypes. Thus genes are expressed together to produce a trait with continuous variability. This is unlike the classical traits or qualitative traits, where each trait is controlled by the expression of a single or very few genes to produce a discontinuous variation.
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The plots you have provided show the following relationships between male antler size, female leg length, and the number of offspring in red deer:
* **Male antler size and number of offspring :** There is a positive correlation between male antler size and number of offspring. This means that males with larger antlers tend to have more offspring.
* **Female leg length and number of offspring :** There is a negative correlation between female leg length and number of offspring. This means that females with shorter legs tend to have more offspring.
* **Male antler size and female leg length in half-siblings:** There is a negative correlation between male antler size and female leg length in half siblings. This means that male half-siblings with larger antlers tend to have female half-siblings with shorter legs.
These relationships can be interpreted in the following ways:
* **Male antler size is a sexually selected trait.** This means that males with larger antlers are more likely to be attractive to females and to win fights with other males. As a result, males with larger antlers are more likely to have more offspring.
* **Female leg length is a trade-off trait.** This means that there are both benefits and drawbacks to having longer or shorter legs. For example, longer legs may allow females to travel further in search of food and to escape from predators more easily, but they may also be more energetically expensive to maintain. Shorter legs may be less energetically expensive to maintain, but they may also make it more difficult for females to travel long distances or to escape from predators. The optimal leg length for a female red deer will likely depend on the specific environmental conditions in which she lives.
* **The negative correlation between male antler size and female leg length in half-siblings suggests that the two traits are genetically correlated.** This means that genes for larger antler size are also associated with genes for shorter leg length. This genetic correlation may be due to a number of factors, such as pleiotropy (where a single gene affects multiple traits) or linkage disequilibrium (where two genes are located close together on a chromosome and are often inherited together).
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