Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:17:42.739Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The limits to artificial selection for body weight in the mouse II. The Genetic Nature of the Limits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

R. C. Roberts
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Unit of Animal Genetics, Institute of Animal Genetics, Edinburgh, 9
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

1. The effects of long-continued selection for body weight in two lines of mice, one large and one small, are described.

2. The large line showed a sharp increase in weight after remaining at an apparent limit for twenty generations. A rare combinational event is suggested as the most likely explanation.

3. Reversed and relaxed selection from the large line at the limit failed to yield any response. This indicates that effectively, the additive genetic variance in this line had been exhausted.

4. In contrast, the small line at the limit regressed slightly towards the base population when selection was relaxed. Reversed selection yielded a ready response until a new limit was apparently reached. Loci affecting body weight in this line had therefore not been fixed by selection.

5. Natural selection, operating on viability between conception and the time when the selection was made, appears to explain best the lack of fixation in the small line.

6. Attention is drawn to the necessity of more experimental work to elucidate the genetic nature of the limits to artificial selection.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1966

References

REFERENCES

Clayton, G. A. & Robertson, A. (1957). An experimental check on quantitative genetical theory. II. The long-term effects of selection. J. Genet. 55, 152170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1955). Patterns of response in selection experiments with mice. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 20, 178196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falconer, D. S. (1960). Selection of mice for growth on high and low planes of nutrition. Genet. Res. 1, 91113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1964). Maternal effects and selection response. In Genetics today. Proc. XIth int. Congr. Genet. (The Hague) 1963, Vol. III, 763774.Google Scholar
Fowler, R. E. & Edwards, R. G. (1960). The fertility of mice selected for large or small body size. Genet. Res. 1, 393407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteiro, L. S. & Falconer, D. S. (1966). Compensatory growth and sexual maturity in mice. Anim. Prod. 8, 179192.Google Scholar
Reeve, E. C. R. & Robertson, F. W. (1953). Studies in quantitative inheritance. II. Analysis of a strain of Drosophila melanogaster selected for long wings. J. Genet. 51, 276316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, R. C. (1965). Some contributions of the laboratory mouse to animal breeding research. Part I. Anim. Breed. Abstr. 33, 339353.Google Scholar
Roberts, R. C. (1966). The limits to artificial selection for body weight in the mouse. I. The limits attained in earlier experiments. Genet. Res. 8, 347360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robertson, F. W. (1955). Selection response and properties of genetic variation. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 20, 166177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robertson, F. W. (1963). The ecological genetics of growth in Drosophila. 6. The genetic correlation between the duration of the larval period and body size in relation to larval diet. Genet. Res. 4, 7492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thoday, J. M. & Boam, T. B. (1961). Regular responses to selection. I. Description of responses. Genet. Res. 2, 161176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thoday, J. M., Gibson, J. B. & Spickett, S. G. (1964). Regular responses to selection. II. Recombination and accelerated response. Genet. Res. 5, 119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. (1965). Factor interaction and linkage in evolution. Proc. R. Soc. B, 162, 80104.Google Scholar