Phenotypic variation is the raw material for natural selection and adaptive evolution. Understanding the factors that influence the amount and directions of variation is thus important to understand evolution
Genetic bases of fluctuating asymmetry
Fluctuating asymmetry is the random variation in the phenotype that occurs among body sides in bilaterians. It reflects developmental noise and its distribution tells us about the developmental constraints affecting variation across the phenotype. This is a collaboration with Fred Peronnet.
Ribeiro V., et al 2026 Genetics iyaf278. https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf278.
Genetic constraints on phenotypic evolution
Phenotypes are multivariate and the correlation among traits impose constraints on their evolution. Using multivariate quantitative genetics, we explore the constraints affecting wing evolution, focusing on the worldwide invasion of Drosophila suzukii. Invasions allow comparisons of derived-invasive and ancestral-native populations. This was the PhD project of Antoine Fraimout.
Fraimout A., S. Chantepie, N. Navarro, C. Teplitsky and V. Debat. Wing shape evolution is not constrained by ancestral genetic covariances in the invasive Drosophila suzukii. PCI Evolutionary Biology (in press).
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