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110 results for “Male Fitness”
Data from: Selection on floral design in Polemonium brandegeei (Polemoniaceae): female and male fitness under hawkmoth pollination
Plant-pollinator interactions promote the evolution of floral traits that attract pollinators and facilitate efficient pollen transfer. The spatial separation of sex-organs, herkogamy, is believed to limit sexual interference in hermaphrodite flowers. Reverse herkogamy (stigma recessed below anthers) and long narrow corolla-tubes are expected to promote efficiency in male function under hawkmoth pollination. We tested this prediction by measuring selection in six experimental arrays of Polemonium brandegeei, a species that displays continuous variation in herkogamy, resulting in a range of recessed to exserted stigmas. Under glasshouse conditions, we measured pollen removal and deposition, and estimated selection gradients (ß) through female fitness (seeds set) and male fitness (siring success based on 6 polymorphic microsatellite loci). Siring success was higher in plants with more nectar sugar and narrow corolla-tubes. However, selection through female function for reverse herkogamy was considerably stronger than was selection through male function. Hawkmoths were initially attracted to larger flowers, but overall preferred plants with reverse herkogamy. Greater pollen deposition and seed set also occurred in reverse herkogamous plants. Thus, reverse herkogamy may be maintained by hawkmoths through female rather than male function. Further, our results suggest that pollinator attraction may play a considerable role in enhancing female function.
Data from: Reduced genetic variance among high fitness individuals: inferring stabilizing selection on male sexual displays in D. serrata
Directional selection is prevalent in nature yet phenotypes tend to remain relatively constant, suggesting a limit to trait evolution. However, the genetic basis of this limit is unresolved. Given widespread pleiotropy, opposing selection on a trait may arise from the effects of the underlying alleles on other traits under selection, generating net stabilizing selection on trait genetic variance. These pleiotropic costs of trait exaggeration may arise through any number of other traits, making them hard to detect in phenotypic analyses. Stabilizing selection can be inferred, however, if genetic variance is greater among low compared to high fitness individuals. We extend a recently suggested approach to provide a direct test of a difference in genetic variance for a suite of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in Drosophila serrata. Despite strong directional sexual selection on these traits, genetic variance differed between high and low fitness individuals and was greater among the low fitness males for seven of eight CHCs, significantly more than expected by chance. Univariate tests of a difference in genetic variance were non-significant but likely have low power. Our results suggest that further CHC exaggeration in D. serrata in response to sexual selection is limited by pleiotropic costs mediated through other traits.
Data from: Sex-differences in nutrient intake can reduce the potential for sexual conflict over fitness maximisation by female and male crickets
As females and males have different roles in reproduction, they are expected to require different nutrients for the expression of reproductive traits. However, due to their shared genome, both sexes may be constrained in the regulation of nutrient intake that maximises sex specific fitness. Here, we used the Geometric Framework for nutrition to examine the effect of macronutrient and micronutrient intakes on lifespan, fecundity, and cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) that signal mate quality to prospective mates in female field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus. In addition, we contrasted nutritional effects on life-history traits between males and females to determine how sex differences influence nutrient regulation. We found that carbohydrate intake maximised female lifespan and protein intake influenced CHC expression, while early life fecundity (cumulative fecundity at Day 21) and lifetime fecundity were dependent on both macronutrient and micronutrient intakes. Fecundity required different nutrient blends to those required to optimise sperm viability in males, generating the potential for sexual conflict over macronutrient intake. The regulation of protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intakes by virgin and mated females initially matched that of males, but females adjusted their intake to a higher P:C ratio, 1P:2C, that maximised fecundity as they aged. This suggests that a sex-specific, age-dependent change in intake target for sexually mature females, regardless of their mating status, adjusts protein consumption in preparation for oviposition. Sex differences in the regulation of nutrient intake to optimise critical reproductive traits in female and male T. oceanicus, provides an example of how sexual conflict over nutrition can shape differences in foraging between the sexes.
Data from: Patterns of male fitness conform to predictions of evolutionary models of late-life
We studied lifetime male virility, a male fitness component, in five populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Virility was measured as the number of females, out of eight total, that a male could fertilize in 24 hours. Individual males were measured at weekly intervals until they died. Virility declined in an approximately linear fashion for the first three weeks of adult life. It then stayed low but relatively constant for another three weeks, exhibiting a clear plateau. These observations are consistent with the evolutionary theories of late-life.The results were not consistent with a simple heterogeneity theory of late-life. This is the first demonstration of a late-life plateau for a male fitness component. We also found that the virility of males that were within seven days of death was significantly lower than similarly aged males that were not about to die. This rapid deterioration of virility prior to death, or death spiral, is similar to a decline in fecundity that we had previously documented.
Data from: Copulation with immature females increases male fitness in cannibalistic widow spiders
Copulatory cannibalism of male 'widow' spiders (genus Latrodectus) is a model example of the extreme effects of sexual selection, particularly in L. hasselti and L. geometricus where males typically facilitate cannibalism by females and mate only once. We show that these males can increase their reproductive success by copulating with final-instar, immature females after piercing the female's exoskeleton to access her newly developed sperm storage organs. Females retain sperm through their final moult and have similar fecundity to adult-mated females. This is an adaptive male tactic because immature mating increases insemination success relative to adult mating (which predicts higher paternity) and moreover, rarely ends in cannibalism, so males can mate again. Although successful only during a brief period before the female's final moult, males may employ this tactic when they associate with final-instar females in nature. Consistent with this, one-third of L. hasselti females collected as immatures in nature were already mated. Immature mating alters sexual selection on these otherwise monogynous males, and may explain male traits allowing facultative polygyny in Latrodectus. Since male cohabitation with immature females is common among invertebrates, immature mating may be a widespread, previously unrecognized mating tactic, particularly when unmated females are of high reproductive value.
Data from: Measuring the fitness benefits of male mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster
It is increasingly realised that the potential for male mate choice is widespread across many taxa. However, measurements of the relative magnitude of the fitness benefits that such choice can confer are lacking. Here we directly measured, in a comprehensive set of tests that manipulated key variables, the fitness benefits of male mate choice in Drosophila melanogaster, by measuring egg production in females that were chosen or rejected by males. The results provided significant evidence for male mate choice. In absolute terms, the observed degree of choice increased male fitness by an average of only 1.59 eggs. However, using a novel technique we show that this benefit of choice represented 14.5% of the maximum potential fitness benefit of choice. The magnitude of mate choice was not significantly altered by variation in (i) mate compatibility, (ii) phenotypic plasticity in male mate choice, or (iii) whether choosing males were preferred or non-preferred by females. Overall, we show that male mate choice represents a subtle but significant opportunity for sexual selection, and we offer a novel and widely applicable method for quantifying mate choice.
Data from: The direct effects of male-killer infection on fitness of ladybird hosts (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Male-killing bacteria are common in insects, and are thought to persist in host populations primarily by indirect fitness benefits to infected females, while direct fitness effects are generally assumed to be neutral or deleterious. Here, we estimated the effect of male-killer infection on direct fitness (number of eggs laid, as a measure of fecundity, together with survival) and other life-history traits (development time and body size) in seven ladybird host/male-killer combinations. Effects of male-killers on fecundity ranged, as expected, from costly to neutral, however we found evidence of reduced development time and increased survival and body size, in infected strains. Greater body size in Spiroplasma-infected Harmonia axyridis corresponded to greater ovariole number, and therefore higher potential fecundity. To our knowledge, this is the first report of direct benefits of male-killer infection after explicitly controlling for indirect fitness effects. Neutral or deleterious fitness effects of male-killer infection should not therefore be automatically assumed.
Data from: Male competition fitness landscapes predict both forward and reverse speciation
Speciation is facilitated when selection generates a rugged fitness landscape such that populations occupy different peaks separated by valleys. Competition for food resources is a strong ecological force that can generate such divergent selection. However, it is unclear whether intrasexual competition over resources that provide mating opportunities can generate rugged fitness landscapes that foster speciation. Here we use highly variable male F2 hybrids of benthic and limnetic threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758, to quantify the male competition fitness landscape. We find that disruptive sexual selection generates two fitness peaks corresponding closely to the male phenotypes of the two parental species, favouring divergence. Most surprisingly, an additional region of high fitness favours novel hybrid phenotypes that correspond to those observed in a recent case of reverse speciation after anthropogenic disturbance. Our results reveal that sexual selection through male competition plays an integral role in both forward and reverse speciation.
Data from: Fitness consequences of artificial selection on relative male genital size
Male genitalia often show remarkable differences among related species in size, shape and complexity. Across poeciliid fishes, the elongated fin (gonopodium) that males use to inseminate females ranges from 18 to 53% of body length. Relative genital size therefore varies greatly among species. In contrast, there is often tight within-species allometric scaling, which suggests strong selection against genital–body size combinations that deviate from a species' natural line of allometry. We tested this constraint by artificially selecting on the allometric intercept, creating lines of males with relatively longer or shorter gonopodia than occur naturally for a given body size in mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. We show that relative genital length is heritable and diverged 7.6–8.9% between our up-selected and down-selected lines, with correlated changes in body shape. However, deviation from the natural line of allometry does not affect male success in assays of attractiveness, swimming performance and, crucially, reproductive success (paternity).
Fig. 7 in Female remating inhibition and fitness of Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) associated with male accessory glands
Fig. 7. Lifetime mean numbers (± S.E.) of offspring produced by Bactrocera dorsalis females of various mating statuses. G2, females mated once (n = 18); G3, females mated twice with different virgin males (n = 20); G4, females mated with non-virgin males (n = 18); G5, females housed with males with a sex ratio of 1: 1 (n = 18); G6, females housed with males with a sex ratio of 1♀: 23 (n = 19). Data for the unfertilized eggs laid by virgin females in group G1 and for females that produced fewer than 30 eggs and/or five offspring in total were not analyzed. Different letters indicate significant differences.
Fig. 2 in Female remating inhibition and fitness of Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) associated with male accessory glands
Fig. 2. Size of male mesodermal accessory gland (MAG) of Bactrocera dorsalis. A, mean length (± S.E.), and B, mean area (± S.E.) of glands. UP means unmated males that were paired with virgin females before the onset of the simulated dusk (when mating occurs), and UU means unmated males and that were not paired with females. 0 h is the size of the MAG just afer mating; 16 h is the size of the MAG at 16 h. Different letters above error bars indicate significantly different means.
Data from: Quantifying direct vs. indirect effects of nectar robbers on male and female components of plant fitness
1. Plants interact simultaneously with both mutualists and antagonists. While webs of plant-animal interactions in natural systems can be highly complex, most interactions can be simplified into those that are either direct (mediated through pairwise interactions) or indirect (mediated through third-party species). Mechanistic studies of the direct and indirect pathways by which foliar herbivores affect plants have been well explored; however, mechanistic explorations of how floral herbivores, such as nectar robbers, affect total plant fitness via direct vs. indirect pathways have received less attention. 2. The goal of this study was to assess the importance of direct vs. pollinator-mediated indirect effects of a floral antagonist on female and male components of plant fitness. We focused on the hummingbird-pollinated plant scarlet gilia, Ipomopsis aggregata, which is nectar-robbed by the bumble bee Bombus occidentalis. Prior studies have found evidence for pollinator-mediated indirect effects of robbing on female and male components of I. aggregata fitness, but the mechanisms by which these indirect effects occur, and experimental evidence supporting or refuting direct effects of robbing, have been lacking. 3. We found no evidence for direct effects of robbing on plant fitness. Robbers did not act as pollinators of I. aggregata nor did they directly affect seed production by making nectar-robber holes or removing nectar in hand-pollinated flowers. Moreover, robbing had no direct effect on pollen production per flower or the ability of pollen from robbed flowers to sire seeds in hand-pollinations. 4. However, nectar robbing had indirect effects on plant reproduction mediated through per-visit pollinator effectiveness at depositing pollen in robbed vs. unrobbed flowers. A simple model of a plant-robber-pollinator system suggested that robbing effects in general may occur through more indirect mechanisms when nectar removal by robbers is high relative to nectar replenishment, and that compensation for robbing is then more profitable through the production of additional flowers. 5. Synthesis. Our results highlight the importance of indirect effects in mediating the fitness consequences of species interactions.
Extra-pair paternity increases male lifetime fitness
<p>Data associated with the submitted manuscript - Extra-pair paternity increases male lifetime fitness</p>
Effect of High-intensity Interval Training on Metabolic Fitness in Overweight Males.
ClinicalTrials.gov study NCT02798666. IPD Sharing: NO. Countries: 0. Publications: 1.
Data from: Fitness consequences of artificial selection on relative male genital size
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Data from: Kin but less than kind: within-group male relatedness does not increase female fitness in seed beetles
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Data from: Testing for local adaptation in adult male and female fitness among populations evolved under different mate competition regimes
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Data from: The direct effects of male-killer infection on fitness of ladybird hosts (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
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Data from: The mutational decay of male-male and hermaphrodite-hermaphrodite competitive fitness in the androdioecious nematode C. elegans
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Data from: Male-biased fitness effects of spontaneous mutations in Drosophila melanogaster
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