scholarly journals The heritability of multiple male mating in a promiscuous mammal

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eryn McFarlane ◽  
Jeffrey E. Lane ◽  
Ryan W. Taylor ◽  
Jamieson C. Gorrell ◽  
David W. Coltman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Heritability Estimate ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Wild Female ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Direct And Indirect Benefits ◽  
Multiple Male

The tendency of females to mate with multiple males is often explained by direct and indirect benefits that could outweigh the many potential costs of multiple mating. However, behaviour can only evolve in response to costs and benefits if there is sufficient genetic variation on which selection can act. We followed 108 mating chases of 85 North American red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) during 4 years, to measure each female's degree of multiple male mating (MMM), and used an animal model analysis of our multi-generational pedigree to provide what we believe is the first estimate of the heritability of MMM in the wild. Female red squirrels were highly polyandrous, mating with an average of 7.0 ± 0.2 males on their day of oestrus. Although we found evidence for moderate levels of additive genetic variation (CV A = 5.1), environmental variation was very high (CV E = 32.3), which resulted in a very low heritability estimate ( h 2 < 0.01). So, while there is genetic variation in this trait, the large environmental variation suggests that any costs or benefits associated with differences among females in MMM are primarily owing to environmental and not genetic differences, which could constrain the evolutionary response to natural selection on this trait.

scholarly journals ADAPTATION AT SPECIFIC LOCI. IV. DIFFERENTIAL MATING SUCCESS AMONG GLYCOLYTIC ALLOZYME GENOTYPES OF COLIAS BUTTERFLIES

Genetics ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-175
Author(s):  
Ward B Watt ◽  
Patrick A Carter ◽  
Sally M Blower
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Heterozygote Advantage ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Genotype Distribution ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Fitness Index ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Specific Variation

ABSTRACT Male mating success as a function of genotype is an important fitness component. It can be studied in wild populations, in species for which a given group of progeny has exactly one father, by determining genotypes of wild-caught mothers and of sufficient numbers of their progeny. Here, we study male mating success as a function of allozyme genotype at two glycolytic loci in Colias butterflies, in which sperm precedence is complete, so that the most recent male to mate fathers all of a female's subsequent progeny.—For the phosphoglucose isomerase, PGI, polymorphism, we predict mating advantage and disadvantage of male genotypes based on evaluation of their biochemical functional differences in the context of thermal-physiological-ecological constraints on the insects' flight activity. As predicted, we find major, significant advantage in mating success for kinetically favored genotypes, compared to the genotype distribution of males active with the sampled females in the wild. These effects are repeatable among samples and on different semispecies' genetic backgrounds.—Initial study of the phosphoglucomutase, PGM, polymorphism in the same samples reveals heterozygote advantage in male-mating success, compared to males active with the females sampled. This contrasts with a lack of correspondence between PGI and PGM genotypes in other fitness index or component differences.—Epistatic interactions in mating success between the two loci are absent.—There is no evidence for segregation distortion associated with the alleles of either primary locus studied, nor is there significant assortative mating.—These results extend our understanding of the specific variation studied and suggest that even loci closely related in function may have distinctive experience of evolutionary forces. Implications of the specificity of the effects seen are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Male competition and the evolution of mating and life-history traits in experimental populations of Aedes aegypti

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1904) ◽  
pp. 20190591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alima Qureshi ◽  
Andrew Aldersley ◽  
Brian Hollis ◽  
Alongkot Ponlawat ◽  
Lauren J. Cator
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Reproductive Control ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
Mating Conditions

Aedes aegypti is an important disease vector and a major target of reproductive control efforts. We manipulated the opportunity for sexual selection in populations of Ae . aegypti by controlling the number of males competing for a single female. Populations exposed to higher levels of male competition rapidly evolved higher male competitive mating success relative to populations evolved in the absence of competition, with an evolutionary response visible after only five generations. We also detected correlated evolution in other important mating and life-history traits, such as acoustic signalling, fecundity and body size. Our results indicate that there is ample segregating variation for determinants of male mating competitiveness in wild populations and that increased male mating success trades-off with other important life-history traits. The mating conditions imposed on laboratory-reared mosquitoes are likely a significant determinant of male mating success in populations destined for release.

scholarly journals Testing for local adaptation and evolutionary potential along 1 altitudinal gradients in rainforest Drosophila: beyond laboratory estimates

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor K. O’Brien ◽  
Megan Higgie ◽  
Alan Reynolds ◽  
Ary A. Hoffmann ◽  
Jon R. Bridle
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Altitudinal Gradients ◽  
Low Altitude ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTPredicting how species will respond to the rapid climatic changes predicted this century is an urgent task. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) use the current relationship between environmental variation and species’ abundances to predict the effect of future environmental change on their distributions. However, two common assumptions of SDMs are likely to be violated in many cases: (1) that the relationship of environment with abundance or fitness is constant throughout a species’ range and will remain so in future, and (2) that abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) determine species’ distributions. We test these assumptions by relating field abundance of the rainforest fruit fly Drosophila birchii to ecological change across gradients that include its low and high altitudinal limits. We then test how such ecological variation affects the fitness of 35 D. birchii families transplanted in 591 cages to sites along two altitudinal gradients, to determine whether genetic variation in fitness responses could facilitate future adaptation to environmental change. Overall, field abundance was highest at cooler, high altitude sites, and declined towards warmer, low altitude sites. By contrast, cage fitness (productivity) increased towards warmer, lower altitude sites, suggesting that biotic interactions (absent from cages) drive ecological limits at warmer margins. In addition, the relationship between environmental variation and abundance varied significantly among gradients, indicating divergence in ecological niche across the species’ range. However, there was no evidence for local adaptation within gradients, despite greater productivity of high altitude than low altitude populations when families were reared under laboratory conditions. Families also responded similarly to transplantation along gradients, providing no evidence for fitness trade-offs that would favour local adaptation. These findings highlight the importance of (1) measuring genetic variation of key traits under ecologically relevant conditions, and (2) considering the effect of biotic interactions when predicting species’ responses to environmental change.

scholarly journals GENETIC VARIATION IN A HETEROGENEOUS ENVIRONMENT. I. TEMPORAL HETEROGENEITY AND THE ABSOLUTE DOMINANCE MODEL

Genetics ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 757-770
Author(s):  
Philip W Hedrick
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Gene Frequency ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Finite Population ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Dominance Model ◽  
Infinite Population ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Absolute Dominance

ABSTRACT The conditions for a stable polymorphism and the equilibrium gene frequency in an infinite population are compared when there is spatial or temporal environmental heterogeneity for the absolute dominance model. For temporal variation the conditions for stability are more restrictive and the equilibrium gene frequency is often at a low gene frequency. In a finite population, temporal environmental heterogeneity for the absolute dominance model was found to be quite ineffective in maintaining genetic variation and is often less effective than no selection at all. For comparison, the maximum maintenance for temporal variation is related to the overdominant model. In general, cyclic environmental variation was found to be more effective at maintaining genetic variation than where the environment varies stochastically. The importance of temporal environmental variation and the maintenance of genetic variation is discussed.

Genetic variation and environmental variation: expectations and experiments

1988 ◽  
pp. 275-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janis Antonovics ◽  
Norman C. Ellstrand ◽  
Robert N. Brandon
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Environmental Variation

Females of a solitary bee reject males to collect food for offspring

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 884-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Laura Dutra ◽  
Clemens Schlindwein ◽  
Reisla Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Solitary Bee ◽  
Female Reproductive Success ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Quantitative Estimates ◽  
Foraging Performance ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Mean

Abstract The time dedicated to courtship and copulation is the most general cost of mating for females. However, quantitative estimates of this cost and the consequences for female mating behavior have been investigated for only a few model organisms and mostly under laboratory conditions. We determined the costs of copulations and persistent courtship by males in terms of time for females of the solitary bee Anthrenoides micans. We estimated the rate and duration of male mating behaviors and the consequences for sexual interactions for females with respect to the loss of foraging opportunity in the wild. Males invested most of their time searching for mates and intercepted foraging females every 3 min. Copulas lasted, on average, 10 times longer than the time females took to resist male mating attempts. Despite the high frequency of these rejections (82%), females spent 3-fold more time copulating than rejecting males. Considering the rate of encounters with males and the mean duration of flower visits by females, we estimated that females would perform 64% fewer flower visits per hour if they accepted all copulation attempts. The loss of time is especially significant in the natural habitat of the species, where host cacti blossom for extraordinary short periods of time and females compete with other cacti-specialized bees and conspecifics. Because the offspring production of a female solitary bee depends on its pollen collection capacity, reduced foraging performance directly influences female reproductive success.

Genetic and Environmental Variation of Ridge-Counts on Fingers, Palms, Soles and Toes: A Twin Study

1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. Jantz ◽  
H. Brehme ◽  
K. Bender
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Genetic Correlation ◽  
Twin Study ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Covariance Matrices ◽  
Twin Data ◽  
Correlation Matrices ◽  
Reciprocal Interaction ◽  
Genetic Components

AbstractA multivariate procedure for estimating heritable components from twin data was applied to ridge counts obtained from the entire dermatoglyphic system. Covariance matrices of MZ and DZ within-pair differences were used to estimate genetic correlation matrices for 20 finger ridge counts, 6 palmar interdigital counts, 20 toe counts, 4 hallucal counts, and 6 sole interdigital counts. The proportion of genetic variation was found to be greater in ridge counts of patterns than in ridge counts of interdigital areas. On digits, finger counts are more highly heritable than toe counts. Each of the dermatoglyphic areas yielded several independent genetic components, ranging from general to specific. Environmental variation was found to be local and to frequently involve reciprocal interaction between twin pairs.

scholarly journals The nature of nurture in a wild mammal's fitness

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1806) ◽  
pp. 20142422 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eryn McFarlane ◽  
Jamieson C. Gorrell ◽  
David W. Coltman ◽  
Murray M. Humphries ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Adaptive Evolution ◽  
Genetic Effects ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Face ◽  
North American Red Squirrels

Genetic variation in fitness is required for the adaptive evolution of any trait but natural selection is thought to erode genetic variance in fitness. This paradox has motivated the search for mechanisms that might maintain a population's adaptive potential. Mothers make many contributions to the attributes of their developing offspring and these maternal effects can influence responses to natural selection if maternal effects are themselves heritable. Maternal genetic effects (MGEs) on fitness might, therefore, represent an underappreciated source of adaptive potential in wild populations. Here we used two decades of data from a pedigreed wild population of North American red squirrels to show that MGEs on offspring fitness increased the population's evolvability by over two orders of magnitude relative to expectations from direct genetic effects alone. MGEs are predicted to maintain more variation than direct genetic effects in the face of selection, but we also found evidence of maternal effect trade-offs. Mothers that raised high-fitness offspring in one environment raised low-fitness offspring in another environment. Such a fitness trade-off is expected to maintain maternal genetic variation in fitness, which provided additional capacity for adaptive evolution beyond that provided by direct genetic effects on fitness.

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