Selfish Genetic Elements Promote Polyandry in a Fly

Price, Tom A. R.; Hodgson, David J.; Lewis, Zenobia; Hurst, Gregory D. D.; Wedell, Nina

doi:10.1126/science.1163766

Cited by 104 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The data on response by males to exposure to a previously mated female has to be interpreted cautiously, because focal males are likely to have remated with this female. Drosophila pseudoobscura females typically remate after 4 days [20], and so are likely to have mated with the focal male at least once. Males of this species can mate with three females a day, each day for several days without any loss of ability to mate [40], so the impact of this may have been minor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, we examined the impact of social environment on a male's ability to acquire matings and on longevity. We compared social environment effects across two Drosophila species: the monandrous D. subobscura, and the closely related polyandrous species Drosophila pseudoobscura [16,19,20]. As males of a monandrous species are only subjected to pre-copulatory sexual selection while males of polyandrous species are subjected to both pre-and post-copulatory sexual selection, we expected that the presence of rivals before copulation would have a more profound impact on the fitness (reproductive success and survival) of males of the monandrous species than the polyandrous one.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extreme cost of rivalry in a monandrous species: male–male interactions result in failure to acquire mates and reduced longevity

et al. 2014

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Mating system variation is profound in animals. In insects, female willingness to remate varies from mating with hundreds of males (extreme polyandry) to never remating (monandry). This variation in female behaviour is predicted to affect the pattern of selection on males, with intense pre-copulatory sexual selection under monandry compared to a mix of pre-and post-copulatory forces affecting fitness under polyandry. We tested the hypothesis that differences in female mating biology would be reflected in different costs of pre-copulatory competition between males. We observed that exposure to rival males early in life was highly costly for males of a monandrous species, but had lower costs in the polyandrous species. Males from the monandrous species housed with competitors showed reduced ability to obtain a mate and decreased longevity. These effects were specific to exposure to rivals compared with other types of social interactions (heterospecific male and mated female) and were either absent or weaker in males of the polyandrous species. We conclude that males in monandrous species suffer severe physiological costs from interactions with rivals and note the significance of male-male interactions as a source of stress in laboratory culture.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme cost of rivalry in a monandrous species: male–male interactions result in failure to acquire mates and reduced longevity

et al. 2014

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“…We therefore predict that females that are at risk of SR should evolve to remate more frequently and at a higher rate. This possibility was examined using experimental evolution in replicate populations, demonstrating that females do indeed rapidly evolve higher remating rates in the presence of SR (figure 3; [69]). This effect could be attributed to the presence of SR and not due to the associated female-biased population sex ratio, as SR alone did not result in evolution of higher female remating rates.…”

Section: Do Selfish Genetic Elements Promote Polyandry?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proportion of experimental evolution line Drosophila pseudoobscura females remating at their first opportunity, for each selection regime (n ¼ 11 lines), when offered standardized stock males, showing median, interquartile range, and range (*p ¼ 0.0383; n.s., not significant). Adapted from Price et al [69] rstb…”

Section: Do Selfish Genetic Elements Promote Polyandry?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

Wedell

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and bacteria, and make up a large part of the genome. They frequently target sperm to increase their transmission success, but these manipulations are often associated with reduced male fertility. Low fertility of SGE-carrying males is suggested to promote polyandry as a female strategy to bias paternity against male carriers. Support for this hypothesis is found in several taxa, where SGE-carrying males have reduced sperm competitive ability. In contrast, when SGEs give rise to reproductive incompatibilities between SGE-carrying males and females, polyandry is not necessarily favoured, irrespective of the detrimental impact on male fertility. This is due to the frequency-dependent nature of these incompatibilities, because they will decrease in the population as the frequency of SGEs increases. However, reduced fertility of SGE-carrying males can prevent the successful population invasion of SGEs. In addition, SGEs can directly influence male and female mating behaviour, mating rates and reproductive traits (e.g. female reproductive tract length and male sperm). This reveals a potent and dynamic interaction between SGEs and polyandry highlighting the potential to generate sexual selection and conflict, but also indicates that polyandry can promote harmony within the genome by undermining the spread of SGEs.

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“…It has also been shown that polyandry may halt the spread of selfish genetic elements (Price et al, 2008). Hence, polyandry may not only prevent inbreeding but also have significant implications for the evolution of mating systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balance between inbreeding and outcrossing in a nannandrous species, the moss Homalothecium lutescens

2015

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Epiphytic dwarf males on the females present a possible solution to the problem of short fertilization distances in mosses. However, leptokurtic spore dispersal makes dwarf males likely to be closely related to their host shoot, with an accompanying risk of inbreeding. The capacity of a female to harbour a high number of different dwarf males suggests that there may be mechanisms in place that counteract inbreeding, such as polyandry and post-fertilization selection. We have genotyped sporophytes, female host shoots and dwarf males in four populations of the moss Homalothecium lutescens. We found no evidence of selective sporophyte abortion based on level of heterozygosity. The occurrence of entirely homozygous sporophytes together with significantly positive inbreeding coefficients in three of the populations (mean F IS between 0.48 and 0.64) suggest frequent mother-son mating events. However, 23% of all sampled sporophytes had a higher level of heterozygosity compared with the mean expected heterozygosity at the population level. Polyandry was frequent, on average 59% of the sporophytes on a female shoot were sired by distinct fathers. In conclusion, sporadic fertilizations by dwarf males originating from nonhost female shoots appear to counteract strong inbreeding.

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Selfish Genetic Elements Promote Polyandry in a Fly

Cited by 104 publications

References 24 publications

Extreme cost of rivalry in a monandrous species: male–male interactions result in failure to acquire mates and reduced longevity

Extreme cost of rivalry in a monandrous species: male–male interactions result in failure to acquire mates and reduced longevity

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

Balance between inbreeding and outcrossing in a nannandrous species, the moss Homalothecium lutescens

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