Intraorganismal genetic heterogeneity as a source of genetic variation in modular macroalgae.

Genetic diversity is considered a key factor of population survival and evolution, especially in changing environments. Genetic diversity arises from mutations in the DNA sequence of cell lines and from there it reaches the level of organisms, populations, and regions. However, many previous studies have not considered the organism architecture or pattern of thallus construction, ignoring the potential genetic complexities that intraorganismal genetic heterogeneity could generate in modular organisms.

Testing the effects of heterozygosity on growth rate plasticity in the seaweed (Rhodophyta).

Heterozygosity has been positively associated with fitness and population survival. However, the relationship between heterozygosity and adaptive phenotypic plasticity (i.e.