Quantitative genetics and the evolution of ontogeny. III. Ontogenetic changes in correlation structure among live-body traits in randombred mice

Abstract

Ontogenetic series of phenotypic, additive genetic, maternal and environmental correlation matrices are presented and interpreted in the light of recent models for the Ontogenetic origin and variation in correlation between traits. A total of 432 mice from 108 full-sib families raised in a cross-fostering design were used to estimate the various components of phenotypic correlation for five live-body traits at eight ages. The level of genetic and phenotypic correlation decreased with age, while levels of maternal and environmental correlation remained more or less constant. Genetic correlations probably decreased due to compensatory growth. Phenotypic correlations decreased primarily due to the relative decrease in importance of highly correlated maternal effects and consequent increase in poorly correlated environmental effects as portions of phenotypic variation. The effect of compensatory growth on genetic correlation was also responsible for a portion of the decline in phenotypic correlation. Phenotypic correlation patterns remained constant over the ages studied here. It also seems likely the genetic, maternal and environmental correlation patterns do not change with age for the characters analysed.