Towards the identification of the loci of adaptive evolution

Establishing the genetic and molecular basis underlying adaptive traits is one of the major goals of evolutionary geneticists in order to understand the connection between genotype and phenotype and elucidate the mechanisms of evolutionary change. Despite considerable effort to address this question, there remain relatively few systems in which the genes shaping adaptations have been identified. Here, we review the experimental tools that have been applied to document the molecular basis underlying evolution in several natural systems, in order to highlight their benefits, limitations and suitability. In most cases, a combination of DNA, RNA and functional methodologies with field experiments will be needed to uncover the genes and mechanisms shaping adaptation in nature.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Methods in Ecology and Evolution

• Publication date

  2015-02-12

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1111/2041-210X.12324PMID 25937885PMCID 4409029
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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