scholarly journals Effects of Genotype and Light on Mating Preference in Drosophila Melanogaster

1979 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 607 ◽  
Author(s):  
JG Oakeshott ◽  
DL Hayman

Patterns of mating have been investigated among yellow-bodied and white-eyed D. melanogaster. The relative mating success of yellow-bodied and white-eyed males was found to depend on both the light/dark regime and the phenotype of the female receiving them. White-eyed males were more likely to succeed in the dark 01' with white-eyed females. The effect of the light/dark regime probably reflected the visual defect in white-eyed males and the effect of the female phenotype was primarily due to strong avoidance of yellow-bodied males by white-eyed females. The overall pattern of mating indicated environment-dependent sexual selection and suggested several models for the experimental analysis of the relations between environmental and genetic variability. Possible implications for wild populations are also discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1959) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Keaney ◽  
Therésa M. Jones ◽  
Luke Holman

The Segregation Distorter ( SD ) allele found in Drosophila melanogaster distorts Mendelian inheritance in heterozygous males by causing developmental failure of non- SD spermatids, such that greater than 90% of the surviving sperm carry SD . This within-individual advantage should cause SD to fix, and yet SD is typically rare in wild populations. Here, we explore whether this paradox can be resolved by sexual selection, by testing if males carrying three different variants of SD suffer reduced pre- or post-copulatory reproductive success. We find that males carrying the SD allele are just as successful at securing matings as control males, but that one SD variant ( SD-5 ) reduces sperm competitive ability and increases the likelihood of female remating. We then used these results to inform a theoretical model; we found that sexual selection could limit SD to natural frequencies when sperm competitive ability and female remating rate equalled the values observed for SD-5 . However, sexual selection was unable to explain natural frequencies of the SD allele when the model was parameterized with the values found for two other SD variants, indicating that sexual selection alone is unlikely to explain the rarity of SD .


Behaviour ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 150 (12) ◽  
pp. 1431-1448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Trajković ◽  
Sofija Pavković-Lučić ◽  
Tatjana Savić

Different environmental factors are important for development, physiology, behaviour and, therefore, adaptation of Drosophila species. Additionally, the presence of genetic and phenotypic variation in traits affecting mate choice forms the basis for sexual selection that may lead to isolation between populations in different nutritive environments. The aim of this research was to determine mating success and wing morphometry of Drosophila melanogaster flies after more than a decade of growing on banana and carrot substrates. Males and females reared on carrot medium were more successful in mating than flies reared on banana diet. Females originating from banana medium rather chose males originating from carrot substrate, while females developed on carrot medium equally chose males developed on both substrates. Differences in wing size and shape were observed between sexes and nutritional strains. Furthermore, the results showed absence of ethological isolation between two ‘nutritional’ strains.


2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1734) ◽  
pp. 1784-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne H. Alonzo

Explaining the evolution of male care has proved difficult. Recent theory predicts that female promiscuity and sexual selection on males inherently disfavour male care. In sharp contrast to these expectations, male-only care is often found in species with high extra-pair paternity and striking variation in mating success, where current theory predicts female-only care. Using a model that examines the coevolution of male care, female care and female choice; I show that inter-sexual selection can drive the evolution of male care when females are able to bias mating or paternity towards parental males. Surprisingly, female choice for parental males allows male care to evolve despite low relatedness between the male and the offspring in his care. These results imply that predicting how sexual selection affects parental care evolution will require further understanding of why females, in many species, either do not prefer or cannot favour males that provide care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1858) ◽  
pp. 20170424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Yun ◽  
Patrick J. Chen ◽  
Amardeep Singh ◽  
Aneil F. Agrawal ◽  
Howard D. Rundle

Recent experiments indicate that male preferential harassment of high-quality females reduces the variance in female fitness, thereby weakening natural selection through females and hampering adaptation and purging. We propose that this phenomenon, which results from a combination of male choice and male-induced harm, should be mediated by the physical environment in which intersexual interactions occur. Using Drosophila melanogaster , we examined intersexual interactions in small and simple (standard fly vials) versus slightly more realistic (small cages with spatial structure) environments. We show that in these more realistic environments, sexual interactions are less frequent, are no longer biased towards high-quality females, and that overall male harm is reduced. Next, we examine the selective advantage of high- over low-quality females while manipulating the opportunity for male choice. Male choice weakens the viability advantage of high-quality females in the simple environment, consistent with previous work, but strengthens selection on females in the more realistic environment. Laboratory studies in simple environments have strongly shaped our understanding of sexual conflict but may provide biased insight. Our results suggest that the physical environment plays a key role in the evolutionary consequences of sexual interactions and ultimately the alignment of natural and sexual selection.


2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 968-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Maggioni ◽  
Maria Raquel Moura Coimbra ◽  
Raimundo Bezerra da Costa ◽  
Fábio Mendonça Diniz ◽  
Wagner Franco Molina ◽  
...  

The objective of this work was to estimate the genetic variability level and distribution in Brazilian broodstocks of marine shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Nine of the country's largest hatcheries were evaluated using codominant and highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. The results obtained from genotyping of ten microsatellite loci are indicative of genetic variability that is compatible with that found in wild populations of L. vannamei in Mexico and Central America. A possible explanation is the highly diversified and relatively recent origin of the available broodstocks. Bayesian analysis detected a signal for five founding populations. The distribution of genetic distances partially reflects geographical location, and this information will be useful for the creation of new broodstocks. Therefore, L. vannamei genetic variability among nine of the largest national hatcheries can be considered high.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeeshan Ali Syed ◽  
Vanika Gupta ◽  
Manas Geeta Arun ◽  
Aatashi Dhiman ◽  
Bodhisatta Nandy ◽  
...  

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