Abstract
Here, we report for the first time, to our knowledge, a strong correlation between a measure of individual genetic diversity and song complexity, a sexually selected male trait in sedge warblers, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. We also find that females prefer to mate with males who will maximize this diversity in individual progeny. The genetic diversity of each offspring is further increased by means of nonrandom fertilization, as we also show that the fertilizing sperm contains a haplotype more genetically distant to that of the egg than expected by chance. These findings suggest that species' mating preferences may be subject to fine tuning aimed at increasing offspring viability through increased genetic diversity. This includes external and internal mechanisms of selection, even within the ejaculate of a single male.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (80.5 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Amos W., Wilmer J. W., Fullard K., Burg T. M., Croxall J. P., Bloch D., Coulson T. The influence of parental relatedness on reproductive success. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Oct 7;268(1480):2021–2027. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1751. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bensch S., Price T., Kohn J. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in a Phylloscopus warbler. Mol Ecol. 1997 Jan;6(1):91–92. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1997.00150.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bierne N., Launey S., Naciri-Graven Y., Bonhomme F. Early effect of inbreeding as revealed by microsatellite analyses on Ostrea edulis larvae. Genetics. 1998 Apr;148(4):1893–1906. doi: 10.1093/genetics/148.4.1893. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Coulson T. N., Pemberton J. M., Albon S. D., Beaumont M., Marshall T. C., Slate J., Guinness F. E., Clutton-Brock T. H. Microsatellites reveal heterosis in red deer. Proc Biol Sci. 1998 Mar 22;265(1395):489–495. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dawson D. A., Hanotte O., Greig C., Stewart I. R., Burke T. Polymorphic microsatellites in the blue tit Parus caeruleus and their cross-species utility in 20 songbird families. Mol Ecol. 2000 Nov;9(11):1941–1944. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01094-14.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamilton W. D. The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I. J Theor Biol. 1964 Jul;7(1):1–16. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(64)90038-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamilton W. D. The genetical evolution of social behaviour. II. J Theor Biol. 1964 Jul;7(1):17–52. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(64)90039-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hansson B., Bensch S., Hasselquist D., Akesson M. Microsatellite diversity predicts recruitment of sibling great reed warblers. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Jun 22;268(1473):1287–1291. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1640. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Richardson D. S., Jury F. L., Dawson D. A., Salgueiro P., Komdeur J., Burke T. Fifty Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) microsatellite loci polymorphic in sylviidae species and their cross-species amplification in other passerine birds. Mol Ecol. 2000 Dec;9(12):2226–2231. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.105338.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tregenza Tom, Wedell Nina. Polyandrous females avoid costs of inbreeding. Nature. 2002 Jan 3;415(6867):71–73. doi: 10.1038/415071a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tsitrone A., Rousset F., David P. Heterosis, marker mutational processes and population inbreeding history. Genetics. 2001 Dec;159(4):1845–1859. doi: 10.1093/genetics/159.4.1845. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]