scholarly journals The Genetic Basis of Female Mate Preference and Species Isolation in Drosophila

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Laturney ◽  
Amanda J. Moehring
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Model System ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Behavioral Isolation ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Species Isolation

The processes that underlie mate choice have long fascinated biologists. With the advent of increasingly refined genetic tools, we are now beginning to understand the genetic basis of how males and females discriminate among potential mates. One aspect of mate discrimination of particular interest is that which isolates one species from another. As behavioral isolation is thought to be the first step in speciation, and females are choosy more often than males in this regard, identifying the genetic variants that influence interspecies female mate choice can enhance our understanding of the process of speciation. Here, we review the literature on female mate choice in the most widely used model system for studies of species isolation Drosophila. Although females appear to use the same traits for both within- and between-species female mate choice, there seems to be a different genetic basis underlying these choices. Interestingly, most genomic regions that cause females to reject heterospecific males fall within areas of low recombination. Likely, candidate genes are those that act within the auditory or olfactory system, or within areas of the brain that process these systems.

scholarly journals Neural and molecular mechanisms underlying female mate choice decisions in vertebrates

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (17) ◽  
pp. jeb207324
Author(s):  
Ross S. DeAngelis ◽  
Hans A. Hofmann
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACTFemale mate choice is a dynamic process that allows individuals to selectively mate with those of the opposite sex that display a preferred set of traits. Because in many species males compete with each other for fertilization opportunities, female mate choice can be a powerful agent of sexual selection, often resulting in highly conspicuous traits in males. Although the evolutionary causes and consequences of the ornamentation and behaviors displayed by males to attract mates have been well studied, embarrassingly little is known about the proximate neural mechanisms through which female choice occurs. In vertebrates, female mate choice is inherently a social behavior, and although much remains to be discovered about this process, recent evidence suggests the neural substrates and circuits underlying other fundamental social behaviors (such as pair bonding, aggression and parental care) are likely similarly recruited during mate choice. Notably, female mate choice is not static, as social and ecological environments can shape the brain and, consequently, behavior in specific ways. In this Review, we discuss how social and/or ecological influences mediate female choice and how this occurs within the brain. We then discuss our current understanding of the neural substrates underlying female mate choice, with a specific focus on those that also play a role in regulating other social behaviors. Finally, we propose several promising avenues for future research by highlighting novel model systems and new methodological approaches, which together will transform our understanding of the causes and consequences of female mate choice.

scholarly journals Female mate choice based on pheromone content may inhibit reproductive isolation between distinct populations of Iberian wall lizards

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Gabirot ◽  
Pilar López ◽  
José MartÍn
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Chemical Signals ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Dependent Signal ◽  
Podarcis Hispanica ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Male Signals ◽  
A Current

Abstract The Iberian wall lizard Podarcis hispanica forms part of a species complex with several morphologically and genetically distinct types and populations, which may or may not be reproductively isolated. We analyzed whether female mate choice based on males’ chemical signals may contribute to a current pre-mating reproductive isolation between two distinct populations of P. hispanica from central Spain. We experimentally examined whether females choose to establish territories on areas scent-marked by males of their own population, versus areas marked by males of the other population. Results showed that females did not prefer scent-marks of males from their own population. In contrast, females seemed to attend mostly to among-individual variation in males’ pheromones that did not differ between populations. Finally, to test for strong premating reproductive isolation, we staged intersexual encounters between males and females. The population of origin of males and females did not affect the probability nor the duration of copulations. We suggest that the different environmental conditions in each population might be selecting for different morphologies and different chemical signals of males that maximize efficiency of communication in each environment. However, females in both populations based mate choice on a similar condition-dependent signal of males. Thus, male signals and female mate choice criteria could be precluding premating reproductive isolation between these phenotypically “distinct” populations.

scholarly journals The complexities of female mate choice and male polymorphisms: Elucidating the role of genetics, age, and mate-choice copying

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1015-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasey D. Fowler-Finn ◽  
Laura Sullivan-Beckers ◽  
Amy M. Runck ◽  
Eileen A. Hebets
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Mate Choice Copying ◽  
Male Phenotype ◽  
Sexual Traits ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Genetic, life history, and environmental factors dictate patterns of variation in sexual traits within and across populations, and thus the action and outcome of sexual selection. This study explores patterns of inheritance, diet, age, and mate-choice copying on the expression of male sexual signals and associated female mate choice in a phenotypically diverse group of Schizocosa wolf spiders. Focal spiders exhibit one of two male phenotypes: ‘ornamented’ males possess large black brushes on their forelegs, and ‘non-ornamented’ males possess no brushes. Using a quantitative genetics breeding design in a mixed population of ornamented/non-ornamented males, we found a strong genetic basis to male phenotype and female choice. We also found that some ornamented males produced some sons with large brushes and others with barely visible brushes. Results of diet manipulations and behavioral mating trials showed no influence of diet on male phenotype or female mate choice. Age post maturation, however, influenced mate choice, with younger females being more likely to mate with ornamented males. A mate-choice copying experiment found that, following observations of another female’s mate choice/copulation, virgin mature females tended to match the mate choice (ornamented vs. non-ornamented males) of the females they observed. Finally, analyses of genetic variation across phenotypically pure (only one male phenotype present) vs. mixed (both phenotypes present) populations revealed genetic distinction between phenotypes in phenotypically-pure populations, but no distinctionin phenotypically-mixed populations. The difference in patterns of genetic differentiation and mating across geographic locations suggests a complex network of factors contributing to the outcome of sexual selection.

Genetic similarity, not male size, influences female mate choice in the agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis)

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marissa L. Parrott ◽  
Simon J. Ward ◽  
Peter D. Temple-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Small Male ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Simultaneous Choice ◽  
Antechinus Agilis ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Species Specific

Our research investigates the effects of genetic relatedness between mates and male size on female mate choice in the agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis). Females were provided with a simultaneous choice between one large and one small male, with a minimum 5 g (~20% of male weight) difference between males, in specially designed mate-choice enclosures. Genetic relatedness between males and females was determined using highly polymorphic, species-specific, microsatellite markers. Male size did not influence mate choice, with approximately equal numbers of large and small males chosen. Females chose males that were more genetically dissimilar to themselves significantly more times and showed significantly more sexual and non-exploratory behaviours near the genetically dissimilar males. The results show that, when free female mate choice is possible, female agile antechinus choose males on the basis of genetic relatedness, rather than male size.

Female Choice in Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella Ochotensis)

The Auk ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Nagata
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Grasshopper Warbler

Abstract Morphological and territorial factors that influence female mate choice were examined in the monogamous Middendorff's Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella ochotensis) on an islet near Fukuoka, Japan. I assumed that pairing date corresponded with female mate choice. Pairing date was correlated with both territory size and food abundance but was not correlated with selected morphological characteristics of males. Territorial quality was assumed to be correlated with territory size because preferable food resources and nest sites were distributed randomly. I conclude that female mate choice was influenced by territory quality rather than by the morphological characteristics of males.

scholarly journals The fruitless gene affects female receptivity and species isolation

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1923) ◽  
pp. 20192765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabashir Chowdhury ◽  
Ryan M. Calhoun ◽  
Katrina Bruch ◽  
Amanda J. Moehring
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Female Receptivity ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Multiple Transcripts ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Substrate Vibrations

Female mate rejection acts as a major selective force within species, and can serve as a reproductive barrier between species. In spite of its critical role in fitness and reproduction, surprisingly little is known about the genetic or neural basis of variation in female mate choice. Here, we identify fruitless as a gene affecting female receptivity within Drosophila melanogaster , as well as female Drosophila simulans rejection of male D. melanogaster . Of the multiple transcripts this gene produces, by far the most widely studied is the sex-specifically spliced transcript involved in the sex determination pathway. However, we find that female rejection behaviour is affected by a non-sex-specifically spliced fruitless transcript. This is the first implication of fruitless in female behaviour, and the first behavioural role identified for a fruitless non-sex-specifically spliced transcript. We found that this locus does not influence preferences via a single sensory modality, examining courtship song, antennal pheromone perception, or perception of substrate vibrations, and we conclude that fruitless influences mate choice via the integration of multiple signals or through another sensory modality.

scholarly journals Female butterflies prefer males bearing bright iridescent ornamentation

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1613) ◽  
pp. 1043-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell J Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Sex Recognition ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Wing Colour ◽  
Enclosure Experiments ◽  
Colour Patterns

Butterflies are among nature's most colourful animals, and provide a living showcase for how extremely bright, chromatic and iridescent coloration can be generated by complex optical mechanisms. The gross characteristics of male butterfly colour patterns are understood to function for species and/or sex recognition, but it is not known whether female mate choice promotes visual exaggeration of this coloration. Here I show that females of the sexually dichromatic species Hypolimnas bolina prefer conspecific males that possess bright iridescent blue/ultraviolet dorsal ornamentation. In separate field and enclosure experiments, using both dramatic and graded wing colour manipulations, I demonstrate that a moderate qualitative reduction in signal brightness and chromaticity has the same consequences as removing the signal entirely. These findings validate a long-held hypothesis, and argue for the importance of intra- versus interspecific selection as the driving force behind the exaggeration of bright, iridescent butterfly colour patterns.

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