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PubMed2004

Effectiveness of sexual selection in preventing fitness deterioration in bulb mite populations under relaxed natural selection.

Under the 'good genes' mechanism of sexual selection (SS), females benefit from mate choice indirectly: their offspring inherit genes of the preferred, high quality fathers. Recent models assume that the genetic variance for male quality is maintained by deleterious mutations. Consequently, SS can be predicted to remove deleterious mutations from populations. We tested this prediction by relaxing selection in populations of the bulb mite, thus increasing their rate of accumulation of deleterious mutation. SS, allowed to operate in half of these populations, did not prevent the fitness decline observed in the other half of the relaxed selection lines. After 11 generations of relaxed selection, female fecundity in lines in which males were allowed to compete for females declined compared with control populations by similar amount as in monogamous lines (17.5 and 14.5%, respectively), whereas other fitness components (viability, longevity, male reproductive success) did not differ significantly between both types of lines and control populations.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lipopolysaccharide facilitates partner preference behaviors in female prairie voles.

Exposure to proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-1beta) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) produces an acute activation of the immune response and results in a repertoire of behavioral patterns collectively termed sickness behaviors. Although nonspecific responses to pathogenic infection have traditionally been viewed as maladaptive effects of infection, sickness behaviors may have significant, adaptive value for the host. One set of adaptive behaviors affected by infection among mammals and birds is mate choice. In Experiment 1, female prairie voles exhibited the expected increase in blood corticosterone concentrations in response to a 0.1 cc i.p. LPS injection (50 microg), indicating activation of the endocrine system. A separate cohort of females was injected with LPS or saline and paired for 6 h with a novel, previously unpaired male. Following the cohabitation period, LPS-injected females spent significantly more time (p < 0.05) with the familiar partner when given a choice between familiar and unfamiliar males in a three-chamber apparatus designed to test partner preferences. Saline-injected females spent significantly more time with the unfamiliar male. In Experiment 2, males injected with LPS or saline spent equal amounts of time with familiar and unfamiliar females following a 6 h cohabitation with a naive female, and therefore, did not exhibit preferences. From a proximate perspective, this study provides evidence that sickness behaviors influence female, but not male, partner preference in prairie voles.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

The effect of female body size on male mounting behaviour in Dermacentor variabilis and D. andersoni.

This study was undertaken to determine if body size of female ticks was an important factor in eliciting the mating behaviour of Dermacentor variabilis and D. andersoni males. Dummy female ticks (DFTs) representing varying sizes of feeding females were prepared from plastic beads. Size of DFT was shown to be important in determining both the time spent by males in contact with DFTs and the extent of male mating response released. Dermacentor variabilis males preferred the smaller-sized DFT, whereas D.andersoni males preferred the larger sizes. Males of both species were able to discriminate between size of DFT only when mounting sex pheromone (MSP) was present. Size of the DFT was more important than the composition of the MSP extract in determining the time males spent in contact with DFTs. Males of both species were sensitive to variations in concentration of extract, and spent 2-6 times longer in contact with DFTs when the concentration was optimal than when it was not. No significant difference in the male's mating response was seen in response to variation in concentration of heterospecific extract. Male mating response, i.e. the behaviour of the male as it progresses through the initial contact, climbing onto the dorsal surface and turning onto the venter, was shown not to be dependent upon how long the male spent in contact with the DFT. Male D. andersoni had a much lower mating response to DFTs than D. variabilis males, suggesting that some further stimulus may be required.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Direct selection on male attractiveness and female preference fails to produce a response.

BACKGROUND: Theoretical studies suggest that direct and indirect selection have the potential to cause substantial evolutionary change in female mate choice. Similarly, sexual selection is considered a strong force in the evolution of male attractiveness and the exaggeration of secondary sexual traits. Few studies have, however, directly tested how female mate choice and male attractiveness respond to selection. Here we report the results of a selection experiment in which we selected directly on female mating preference for attractive males and, independently, on male attractiveness in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. We measured the direct and correlated responses of female mate choice and male attractiveness to selection and the correlated responses of male ornamental traits, female fecundity and adult male and female survival. RESULTS: Surprisingly, neither female mate choice nor male attractiveness responded significantly to direct or to indirect selection. Fecundity did differ significantly among lines in a way that suggests a possible sexually-antagonistic cost to male attractiveness. CONCLUSIONS: The opportunity for evolutionary change in female mate choice and male attractiveness may be much smaller than predicted by current theory, and may thus have important consequences for how we understand the evolution of female mate choice and male attractiveness. We discuss a number of factors that may have constrained the response of female choice and male attractiveness to selection, including low heritabilities, low levels of genetic (co)variation in the multivariate direction of selection, sexually-antagonistic constraint on sexual selection and the "environmental covariance hypothesis".

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Allozyme genotypes of Drosophila buzzatii: feeding and oviposition preferences for microbial species, and habitat selection.

Mature, mated female D. buzzatii were given a choice of nine microbial communities actively growing on cactus homogenate in laboratory population cages, and tests were made to determine if flies of different genotypes (for seven allozyme loci) chose different microorganism species for either feeding or oviposition. Variation in feeding preferences was determined from assays of electrophoretic genotypes and the ingested microorganism species of individual flies. Oviposition preference variation was analyzed indirectly by assaying the genotypes of individuals raised from eggs laid on different microorganisms. No significant evidence was found for differences in feeding preferences among adults of different genotypes. For oviposition preferences, there were significant microorganism-genotype associations for each of seven polymorphic loci. Analyses of the total electrophoretic genotype, rather than of individual loci, showed that the genotypes of eggs laid on the same microorganism species were more similar than those laid on different species. That is, females of different genotypes show habitat selection for oviposition sites, which would facilitate the maintenance of genetic polymorphisms.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prolactin and testosterone affect seasonal differences in male meadow vole, microtus pennsylvanicus, odor preferences for female conspecifics.

Studies on nonseasonally breeding males have demonstrated that high titers of testosterone (T) stimulate reproduction, whereas high titers of prolactin (PRL) inhibit it. Recent evidence, however, suggests that for seasonally breeding males high titers of both PRL and T stimulate behaviors that support reproduction and mating. Thus, we hypothesized that high titers of both PRL and T are necessary and sufficient for male meadow voles to show a preference for the odor of long-photoperiod (LP) females. We tested this hypothesis by treating castrated LP males with bromocriptine and/or T, and by treating castrated short-photoperiod (SP) males with PRL and/or T. The data showed that high titers of both PRL and T are necessary for LP male meadow voles to maintain a preference for the odor of LP female meadow voles, but high titers of both hormones are not sufficient to induce SP males to show such a preference. Only SP males with high T and low PRL titers showed preferences for LP female odors. Interestingly. SP males with high PRL and high T titers preferred the odor of LP males, and SP males with high PRL and low T titers preferred the odors of SP females. The apparent contradictory effects of PRL and T in SP males suggest that the hormonal control of seasonal differences of male odor preferences may be more complex than previously believed.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Habitat avoidance: overlooking an important aspect of host-specific mating and sympatric speciation?

Understanding speciation requires discerning how reproductive barriers to gene flow evolve between previously interbreeding populations. Models of sympatric speciation for phytophagous insects posit that reproductive isolation can evolve in the absence of geographic isolation as a consequence of an insect shifting and ecologically adapting to a new host plant. One important adaptation contributing to sympatric differentiation is host-specific mating. When organisms mate in preferred habitats, a system of positive assortative mating is established that facilitates sympatric divergence. Models of host fidelity generally assume that host choice is determined by the aggregate effect of alleles imparting positive preferences for different plant species. But negative effect genes for avoiding nonnatal plants may also influence host use. Previous studies have shown that apple and hawthorn-infesting races of Rhagoletis pomonella flies use volatile compounds emitted from the surface of fruit as key chemosensory cues to recognize and distinguish between their host plants. Here, we report results from field trials indicating that in addition to preferring the odor of their natal fruit, apple and hawthorn flies, and their undescribed sister species infesting flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), also avoid the odors of nonnatal fruit. We discuss the implications of nonnatal fruit avoidance for the evolutionary dynamics and genetics of sympatric speciation. Our findings reveal an underappreciated role for habitat avoidance as a potential postmating, as well as prezygotic, barrier to gene flow.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Mating interactions of Schistosoma haematobium and S. intercalatum with their hybrid offspring.

Experiments were designed to study the mating behaviour between the Schistosoma haematobium male x S. intercalatumfemale hybrid and the 2 parental species S. haematobium and S. intercalatum. Individual worms were identified by electrophoretic analysis of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which was characteristic for each isolate. Analysis of the data obtained showed that both heterospecific and homospecific pairs formed between the hybrids and S. haematobium and S. intercalatum. S. haematobium and the hybrid are better than S. intercalatum in forming pairs, and S. haematobium showed a greater homospecific mate preference compared with the hybrid. Analysis of the data using the Mantel-Haenszel test suggests that mating competition does exist between the schistosomes, with the hybrid being dominant over both the parental species and S. haematobium being dominant over S. intercalatum. The hybrid males showed a greater ability than S. intercalatum and S. haematobium males in taking away S. haematobium and S. intercalatum females from their homospecific males when introduced into a pre-established S. haematobium or S. intercalatum infection. They were able to take females from S. intercalatum homospecific pairs more easily compared with females from S. haematobium homospecific pairs. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to the epidemiological changes of schistosomiasis in Cameroon, where hybridization between S. haematobium and S. intercalatum has taken place, with S. haematobium and the hybrid managing to replace the endemic S. intercalatum over the last 30 years.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Dietary nicotinamide supplementation increases xanthine oxidoreductase activity in the kidney and heart but not liver of obese Zucker rats.

The conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase to xanthine oxidase that produces oxygen radicals has been implicated in the ischemic injury to the myocardium and to the kidney. Xanthine dehydrogenase uses NAD as the electron acceptor to catalyze a reaction which does not produce any oxygen free radicals and may depress the conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase to xanthine oxidase. Nicotinamide is the preferred precursor for NAD. This study was conducted to examine the effect of an 18% casein diet supplemented with 0.5% nicotinamide on the activity of oxidoreductase and its two enzyme forms, xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase, in kidney, heart and liver of female obese Zucker rats that spontaneously develop glomerulosclerosis, cardiomegaly and fatty liver. Lean litter mates were used as controls. Nicotinamide supplementation had no effect on the activities of these enzyme forms in the liver of either obese rats or lean rats. Obese rats fed the nicotinamide supplemented diet had higher activities of these enzyme forms in kidneys and hearts than unsupplemented diet fed obese rats, but this difference was not observed in lean rats. In unsupplemented rats, xanthine oxidase activity in the kidney was greater in lean rats than obese rats. Thus, the abnormalities observed in obese rats are unlikely attributable to the xanthine oxidase-mediated oxidant stress.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Sexual selection for sensory exploitation in the frog Physalaemus pustulosus.

The sensory bases of species and population mate preferences are well known; in frogs properties of the female auditory system influence such preferences. By contrast, there is little understanding of how sensory characteristics could result in sexual selection within a population. One possible mechanism is that females are more sensitive to male courtship signals that deviate from the population mean. We document this mechanism in the frog Physalaemus pustulosus. Female basilar papilla tuning is biased toward lower-than-average frequencies in the 'chuck' portion of the male's call, explaining female preference for the lower-frequency chucks produced by larger males. The tuning does not differ between P. pustulosus and its close relative P. coloradorum, a species in which males never evolved the ability to produce chucks; thus the female tuning evolved before the chuck and therefore the chuck played no role in the evolution of the preference. This allows us to reject two popular hypotheses for the evolution of this female preference (runaway sexual selection and natural selection) in favour of a third: sexual selection for sensory exploitation.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Mate preference and avoidance in female rats following treatment with scopolamine.

The effects of the muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine, on the behavior of female rats in a mate preference test were determined. Ovariectomized rats were primed with sufficient doses of estradiol benzoate (0.25 micrograms for 3 days) and progesterone (500 micrograms) to activate full sexual receptivity. Beginning 15 min after intraperitoneal injection of saline (0.4 ml/kg) or scopolamine hydrochloride (1 mg/kg), females were tested in an arena divided into three compartments. Females treated with scopolamine clearly avoided a compartment occupied by a gonadally intact stimulus male, instead preferring a compartment occupied by a castrated male or an empty neutral compartment. Direct contact with an intact male was a critical feature of this avoidance because females treated with scopolamine did not avoid intact males that were confined within a chamber that prevented physical contact between the male and female. Results indicate that female rats treated with scopolamine avoid direct physical contact with sexually active males, possibly due to an alteration in sexual motivation and/or the aversive nature of this interaction.

Animals↗

PubMed1979

Dose-response curves for radiation-induced gene mutations in mouse oocytes and their interpretation.

Previous work, in which female mice had been given fractionated doses of 20 X 10 rad X-rays, had confirmed and extended Russell's observations that the dose-response relationship for specific-locus mutations in mature-mouse oocytes is curved at low doses. The present work was intended to study the relationship at relatively high doses. Adult female mice were given doses of 200, 400 or 600 rad x-rays at 52 or 72 rad/min, and mated immediately. Offspring conceived in the first 7 days (i.e. using oocytes which were mature at time of treatment) were scored for specific-locus mutations. The data indicate that the departure from linearity of the dose-response curve is marginally significant at the 5% level. A quadratic dose-response curve (y = c + aD + bD2) and a square-law relationship (y = c + bD2) both give a good fit to the data. Both curves fit data of other authors obtained at low doses or dose-rates. These results could be interpreted either in terms of dose-dependent repair phenomena, or by considering specific-locus mutations as two-track events. In view of knowledge of other phenomena concerning mutation and cell killing in mouse oocytes, such as the variation in sensitivity of different cell stages, the interpretation in terms of repair phenomena is preferred.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Hippocampal volume and food-storing behavior are related in parids.

The size of the hippocampus has been previously shown to reflect species differences and sex differences in reliance on spatial memory to locate ecologically important resources, such as food and mates. Black-capped chickadees (Parus atricapillus) cached more food than did either Mexican chickadees (P. sclateri) or bridled titmice (P. wollweberi) in two tests of food storing, one conducted in an aviary and another in smaller home cages. Black-capped chickadees were also found to have a larger hippocampus, relative to the size of the telencephalon, than the other two species. Differences in the frequency of food storing behavior among the three species have probably produced differences in the use of hippocampus-dependent memory and spatial information processing to recover stored food, resulting in graded selection for size of the hippocampus.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Reproductive aging and mating: the ticking of the biological clock in female cockroaches.

Females are expected to have different mating preferences because of the variation in costs and benefits of mate choice both between females and within individual females over a lifetime. Workers have begun to look for, and find, the expected variation among females in expressed mating preferences. However, variation within females caused by changes in intrinsic influences has not been examined in detail. Here we show that reproductive aging caused by delayed mating resulted in reduced choosiness by female Nauphoeta cinerea, a cockroach that has reproductive cycles and gives live birth. Male willingness to mate was unaffected by variation in female age. Females who were beyond the optimal mating age, 6 days postadult molt, required considerably less courtship than their younger counterparts. Females who were older when they mated had fewer offspring per clutch and fewer clutches than females who mated young. Thus, reduced choosiness was correlated with a permanent reduction in fertility. There was no difference in overall senescence among females, and thus the reduction in clutch size did not result in the expected increased lifespan. We suggest that reproductive aging in N. cinerea, similar to aging in general, occurs because the maintenance of oocytes is costly, and selection is relaxed after the optimal mating period. Our results further suggest that selection for continued choosiness is also relaxed and supports direct selection on female choosiness and a cost to choosiness.

Aging↗

PubMed2001

Conflicts and alliances in insect families.

Hamilton's principle of inclusive fitness implies that reproductive altruism can evolve, because individuals can pass on genes not only through their own offspring, but also through the offspring of their relatives. Social insects are spectacular examples of how some individuals may be selected to forgo reproduction and instead help others reproduce. Social Hymenoptera are also special because relatedness patterns within families can be asymmetrical, so that optimal sex-ratios, preferred male parentage or preferred mating frequencies become objects of reproductive conflict. The now extensive inclusive fitness theory provides precise qualitative predictions with respect to the emergence of such conflicts. Recent advances in the power of genetic markers applied to resolve family structure in insect societies have brought about a series of studies that have tested these predictions. In support of kin selection as a major evolutionary force, the results suggest that workers frequently control sex allocation. However, the very establishment of such worker control has made new conflicts come to light, between mothers and fathers and between adult individuals and brood. Evidence for these conflicts is only just beginning to be gathered. Recent studies tend to include issues such as 'information' and 'power' (i.e. the ability to perceive signals and the opportunity to act upon this information), and to address selection for selfishness at the individual level with costs of social disruption at the colony level.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

The evolutionary significance of sexual selection.

A model for the joint evolution of a secondary sexual male trait Z and a female mating preference Y is discussed. Recurrence relations for the moments of (Z, Y) are given under the assumption that the traits are binormally distributed. It is shown that female preference for a male character can lead to an equilibrium distribution of the male trait with non-zero variances. The conditions under which the distribution is stable, are given. Unstable situations, in which a continued exaggeration of the male trait occurs, are described. It is demonstrated that the effect of sexual selection on the evolution of the male trait depends on the intensity of natural selection, i.e. the effect of the sexual selection increases when the intensity of natural selection is reduced. The effect of the female preference on the male trait also increases with increasing availability of males. This provides a link to several ecological conditions which have generally been known to be correlated with the degree of sexual selection. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that perturbations away from the equilibrium may cause rapid evolution of the male character, eventually leading to speciation.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Sensory bias as an explanation for the evolution of mate preferences.

The sensory bias model of sexual selection posits that female mating preferences are by-products of natural selection on sensory systems. Although sensory bias was proposed 20 years ago, its critical assumptions remain untested. This paradox arises because sensory bias has been used to explain two different phenomena. First, it has been used as a hypothesis about signal design, that is, that males evolve traits that stimulate female sensory systems. Second, sensory bias has been used as a hypothesis for the evolution of female preference itself, that is, to explain why females exhibit particular preferences. We focus on this second facet. First, we clarify the unique features of sensory bias relative to the alternative models by considering each in the same quantitative genetic framework. The key assumptions of sensory bias are that natural selection is the predominant evolutionary mechanism that affects preference and that sexual selection on preferences is quantitatively negligible. We describe four studies that would test these assumptions and review what we can and cannot infer about sensory bias from existing studies. We suggest that the importance of sensory bias as an explanation for the evolution of female preferences remains to be determined.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Measuring natural and sexual selection on breeding values of male display traits in Drosophila serrata.

Fundamental to many theories of sexual selection is the expectation that sexual traits, which males use in an attempt to increase mating success, confer costs as well as benefits to individual males. Although evolution of exaggerated male traits is predicted to be halted, by costs applied by natural selection, there is a lack of empirical work devoted to quantitatively establishing whether natural selection opposes sexual selection generated by the preferences of females. In this study, we quantified natural and sexual selection gradients on breeding values for cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) components of male contact pheromones in Drosophila serrata. As male sexual traits may often be environmentally condition dependent, breeding values were used in the selection analysis to remove the possibility of environmental correlations between the measured trait and fitness biasing estimates of selection. The direction of natural selection was found to oppose sexual selection on a subset of CHCs examined. Opposing natural and sexual selection suggests that further evolution of the male pheromone may in part be limited by costs associated with attractive male CHC blends.

Animals↗