Accelerated Evolution of Morph-Biased Genes in Pea Aphids

Phenotypic plasticity, the production of alternative phenotypes (or morphs) from the same genotype due to environmental factors, results in some genes being expressed in a morph-biased manner. Theoretically, these morph-biased genes experience relaxed selection, the consequence of which is the buildup of slightly deleterious mutations at these genes. Over time, this is expected to result in increased protein divergence at these genes between...