0000000000359016
AUTHOR
Charles E. King
Large Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium deviations in the Daphnia longispina of Lake El Tobar
The population structure of Daphnia longispina in Lake El Tobar, Spain was studied by measuring variation at the aldehyde oxidase (AO), phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) and phosphoglucose mutase (PGM) loci in each of 1337 individuals from four collections. In 9 of the 12 comparisons between observed allele frequencies and those expected by Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium there was an excess of heterozygotes. We found 27 of the potential number of 54 composite electromorphs (‘clones’) based on the three allozymes. Clone diversities were rather high in all collections. Three clones reached frequencies of over 25% and different clones were dominant in each of the four collections. Strong temporal var…
Evolutionary dynamics of ‘the’ bdelloid and monogonont rotifer life-history patterns
Substantial differences in both life-table characteristics and reproductive patterns distinguish bdelloid from monogonont rotifers. Bdelloids reproduce only asexually, whereas most monogononts are cyclical parthenogens. We explore some of the adaptive consequences of these life-history differences using a computer model to simulate the evolutionary acquisition of new beneficial mutations. A one-locus mutation-selection regime based on the life-history characteristics of bdelloids indicates that asexuals can maintain higher levels of both allelic and genotypic diversity over a longer time period than obligate sexuals. These results are produced by differences in the magnitude of random genet…
Review paper: Seasonal variation as a determinant of population structure in rotifers reproducing by cyclical parthenogenesis
Monogonont rotifers live in habitats that display extensively variation in both biotic and abiotic components. Much of this variation is seasonal and therefore predictable for a given pond or lake. In 1972, King proposed one physiological and two genetic models presenting alternative modes of adaptation to this temporal variation. Our purpose in the present paper is to review and evaluate how our knowledge of the seasonal structure of rotifer populations has changed in the past 25 years. Seasonal changes in clone frequencies have been reported from three studies of natural populations using electrophoretic analysis of isozymes. In one of these studies there was evidence for substantial temp…
Diel vertical migration by Daphnia longispina in a Spanish lake: Genetic sources of distributional variation
Individuals of many zooplankton species undergo diel vertical migration in which they move toward the surface after sunset and return to deeper waters at dawn. However, even when vertical migration can be clearly demonstrated by mapping the distributions of individuals at noon and midnight, at any given time the population is usually scattered over ‘a broad range of depths. This paper focuses on a major potential source of the variance associated with depth distributions. We have used electrophoretic analysis of isozymes to identify “clones” of Daphnia longispina in a Spanish lake. In September 199 1, two clones constituted 5 5% of the individuals collected at noon and midnight on each oftw…
A Perspective on Aging in Rotifers
Most research on aging in rotifers has been performed with populations, not with individuals. As a consequence, the dependent variable in these studies is usually either mean lifespan or rate of survivorship. After a brief consideration of the literature published since the last major review (King, 1969), the results of a series of experiments are presented. Males and females of three genetically distinct clones of Brachionus plicatilis were used for a factorial life table analysis at three different temperatures. The results of these experiments indicate several potential problems in using populations to study the aging process of individuals. These problems derive from the fact that lifes…