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Raleigh J Robertson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) increase offspring heterozygosity through extrapair mating
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2007Co-Authors: Mary K. Stapleton, Oddmund Kleven, Jan T. Lifjeld, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:Recent attention has focused on Genetic Compatibility as an adaptive function for why females engage in extrapair mating. We tested the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) over five breeding seasons using data from ten microsatellite loci. Tree swallows are socially monogamous passerines exhibiting high levels of extrapair paternity. Overall, we found that 47% of offspring were the result of extrapair fertilizations, and 83% of females produced at least one extrapair offspring. Consistently for all years, extrapair offspring were more heterozygous than their maternal half-siblings, which is in accordance with the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis. The difference was largely caused by the high heterozygosity of extrapair offspring sired by unknown males, suggesting that females are engaging in extrapair copulations with geographically distant males to increase the likelihood of being inseminated by a more compatible mate. Our findings support the idea that postcopulatory mechanisms are important for females when assessing potential sires for their offspring.
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a test of the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis with tree swallows tachycineta bicolor
Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2005Co-Authors: Colleen A Barber, Mandy J Edwards, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:The Genetic Compatibility hypothesis proposes that females should mate with Genetically dissimilar males whose alleles best complement their own, resulting in greater offspring heterozygosity. It predicts that Genetic similarity between social pairs will be positively related to the proportion of extra-pair young within broods and negatively related to hatching success. We tested these two predictions in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)) pairs (n = 72). Tree swallows have one of the highest rates of extra-pair paternity among socially monogamous passerines. Contrary to expectation, Genetic similarity of a social pair, as measured by the band-sharing coefficient (estimated from multilocus DNA fingerprints), tended to be negatively related to the proportion of extra-pair young within broods, but failed to predict hatching success. When including only the subset of nests for which we had complete genotyping data (n = 37), we again found a significant negative relationship between Genetic si...
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extrapair paternity and egg hatchability in tree swallows evidence for the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis
Behavioral Ecology, 1999Co-Authors: Bart Kempenaers, Brad Congdon, Peter T Boag, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) show one of the highest levels of extrapair paternity in birds, and there is evidence that females have control over who fathers their offspring. However, it is unclear which benefits female tree swallows obtain from mating with multiple males. Using microsatellite DNA fingerprinting, we studied extrapair paternity in relation to nesting success and male, female, and offspring characteristics. More than 70% of all nests contained extrapair young, and more than half of all offspring were extrapair. Within broods, the extrapair young were often fathered by several males. Despite screening all resident and some floater males, we could identify the biological father of only 21% of all extrapair offspring. All identified extrapair males were close neighbors. Extrapair males did not differ from within-pair males in any of the measured characteristics, except that the former had larger cloacal protuberances than the latter. Extrapair males were equally successful in gaining paternity in their own broods as males that did not father extra young. In nests with mixed paternity, extrapair young did not differ from within-pair young in body size or mass. However, nests with extrapair young had higher hatching success than nests without extrapair young. All examined unhatched eggs were fertilized and thus hatch failure resulted from embryo mortality. The available data are in accordance with the Genetic diversity and the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis, but not with the good genes hypothesis. Key words: extrapair fertilization, Genetic Compatibility, Genetic diversity, good genes, microsatellite DNA fingerprinting, multiple paternity, Tachycineta bicolor, tree swallows. [Behav Ecol 10:304‐311 (1999)]
Sebastian A Baldauf - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a sex specific trade off between mating preferences for Genetic Compatibility and body size in a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012Co-Authors: Timo Thunken, Denis Meuthen, Theo C M Bakker, Sebastian A BaldaufAbstract:Mating preferences for Genetic Compatibility strictly depend on the interplay of the genotypes of potential partners and are therein fundamentally different from directional preferences for ornamental secondary sexual traits. Thus, the most compatible partner is on average not the one with most pronounced ornaments and vice versa. Hence, mating preferences may often conflict. Here, we present a solution to this problem while investigating the interplay of mating preferences for relatedness (a Compatibility criterion) and large body size (an ornamental or quality trait). In previous experiments, both sexes of Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice, showed preferences for kin and large partners when these criteria were tested separately. In the present study, test fish were given a conflicting choice between two potential mating partners differing in relatedness as well as in body size in such a way that preferences for both criteria could not simultaneously be satisfied. We show that a sex-specific trade-off occurs between mating preferences for body size and relatedness. For females, relatedness gained greater importance than body size, whereas the opposite was true for males. We discuss the potential role of the interplay between mating preferences for relatedness and body size for the evolution of inbreeding preference.
Janne S Kotiaho - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Genetic Compatibility and sexual selection
Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2005Co-Authors: Mikael Puurtinen, Tarmo Ketola, Janne S KotiahoAbstract:In a recent review in TREE [1], Mays and Hill discuss the interface between sexual selection for good genes (i.e. female choice based on traits indicating heritable fitness) and sexual selection for Genetic Compatibility (i.e. how well the genes of the parents function together in their offspring). We feel that the scope of their contribution is somewhat limited, primarily because they implicitly equate Genetic Compatibility with Genetic dissimilarity. Compatibility does, however, not equal dissimilarity.
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mate choice or polyandry reconciling Genetic Compatibility and good genes sexual selection
Evolutionary Ecology Research, 2002Co-Authors: Nick Colegrave, Janne S Kotiaho, Joseph L TomkinsAbstract:Sexual selection for good genes is based on the assumption that ‘good genes’ are equally good for all females. In contrast, selection for Genetic Compatibility is based on the assumption that offspring viability will depend on the interaction between male and female genotypes, and hence one male may not be good for all females. Here we present a simple model to examine the relationship between the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis and good genes sexual selection. We examine the circumstances under which selection arising from Genetic Compatibility will favour an increase in the number of males a female mates with. Our model shows that if there is some cost of mating, then some form of sperm selection based on Compatibility is essential for the evolution of polyandry for Compatibility. Furthermore, we found that when both good genes and Compatibility selection are in operation, selection for Compatibility can reduce directional sexual selection by causing females to mate with males of lower Genetic quality.
Bart Kempenaers - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Fitness Benefits of Mate Choice for Compatibility in a Socially Monogamous Species
PLOS Biology, 2015Co-Authors: Malika Ihle, Bart Kempenaers, Wolfgang ForstmeierAbstract:Research on mate choice has primarily focused on preferences for quality indicators, assuming that all individuals show consensus about who is the most attractive. However, in some species, mating preferences seem largely individual-specific, suggesting that they might target Genetic or behavioral Compatibility. Few studies have quantified the fitness consequences of allowing versus preventing such idiosyncratic mate choice. Here, we report on an experiment that controls for variation in overall partner quality and show that zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) pairs that resulted from free mate choice achieved a 37% higher reproductive success than pairs that were forced to mate. Cross-fostering of freshly laid eggs showed that embryo mortality (before hatching) primarily depended on the identity of the Genetic parents, whereas offspring mortality during the rearing period depended on foster-parent identity. Therefore, preventing mate choice should lead to an increase in embryo mortality if mate choice targets Genetic Compatibility (for embryo viability), and to an increase in offspring mortality if mate choice targets behavioral Compatibility (for better rearing). We found that pairs from both treatments showed equal rates of embryo mortality, but chosen pairs were better at raising offspring. These results thus support the behavioral, but not the Genetic, Compatibility hypothesis. Further exploratory analyses reveal several differences in behavior and fitness components between “free-choice” and “forced” pairs.
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The Genetic similarity between pair members influences the frequency of extrapair paternity in alpine marmots
Animal Behaviour, 2008Co-Authors: Aurélie Cohas, Bart Kempenaers, Nigel G. Yoccoz, Christophe Bonenfant, Benoit Goossens, Celine Genton, Maxime Galan, Dominique AllainéAbstract:Extrapair paternity is widespread in birds and mammals. In particular, the alpine marmot, Marmota marmota, has a high frequency of extrapair paternity that seems to be explained by the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis. We investigated whether the number and proportion of extrapair young depend on the heterozygosity (individual Genetic diversity) of the social male, or on the Genetic similarity between the social male and his mate (relatedness). Both the number and the proportion of extrapair young increased with both high similarity and dissimilarity between the social pair. In combination with previous results, our study suggests that patterns of extrapair paternity in alpine marmots can best be explained by the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis, and more precisely its optimal outbreeding variant. Our results indeed suggest that extrapair paternity is a mechanism to avoid both in- and outbreeding depression. We discuss which proximal mechanisms may be involved in extrapair paternity in this species.
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extrapair paternity and egg hatchability in tree swallows evidence for the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis
Behavioral Ecology, 1999Co-Authors: Bart Kempenaers, Brad Congdon, Peter T Boag, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) show one of the highest levels of extrapair paternity in birds, and there is evidence that females have control over who fathers their offspring. However, it is unclear which benefits female tree swallows obtain from mating with multiple males. Using microsatellite DNA fingerprinting, we studied extrapair paternity in relation to nesting success and male, female, and offspring characteristics. More than 70% of all nests contained extrapair young, and more than half of all offspring were extrapair. Within broods, the extrapair young were often fathered by several males. Despite screening all resident and some floater males, we could identify the biological father of only 21% of all extrapair offspring. All identified extrapair males were close neighbors. Extrapair males did not differ from within-pair males in any of the measured characteristics, except that the former had larger cloacal protuberances than the latter. Extrapair males were equally successful in gaining paternity in their own broods as males that did not father extra young. In nests with mixed paternity, extrapair young did not differ from within-pair young in body size or mass. However, nests with extrapair young had higher hatching success than nests without extrapair young. All examined unhatched eggs were fertilized and thus hatch failure resulted from embryo mortality. The available data are in accordance with the Genetic diversity and the Genetic Compatibility hypothesis, but not with the good genes hypothesis. Key words: extrapair fertilization, Genetic Compatibility, Genetic diversity, good genes, microsatellite DNA fingerprinting, multiple paternity, Tachycineta bicolor, tree swallows. [Behav Ecol 10:304‐311 (1999)]
Carl Smith - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A Comparison of the Impact of Direct and Indirect Benefits of Mating Decisions in the Rose Bitterling (Rhodeus Ocellatus)
Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, 2013Co-Authors: Muna Agbali, Martin Reichard, Rowena Spence, Carl SmithAbstract:Research on sexual selection has tended to focus on indirect benefits of female mating decisions, and few attempts have been made to quantify the relative effect of direct and indirect selection simultaneously. Here we compared direct and indirect selection on female mating decisions in the rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus), a fish with a resource-based mating system, using experimental treatments with equivalent consequences for female reproductive success. Direct selection was varied by manipulating the quality of sites available to females for oviposition, and indirect selection by presenting females with males of known Genetic Compatibility. Manipulating the strength of direct and indirect selection had specific, quantified consequences for embryo survival during incubation. There was a significant effect of both direct and indirect selection on female mating decisions, though direct selection accounted for more variance in female oviposition rate compared with indirect. No interaction between direc...
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Mate choice for nonadditive Genetic benefits correlate with MHC dissimilarity in the rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus).
Evolution, 2010Co-Authors: Muna Agbali, Martin Reichard, Anna Bryjová, Josef Bryja, Carl SmithAbstract:Good genes models of mate choice predict additive Genetic benefits of choice whereas the Compatibility hypothesis predicts nonadditive fitness benefits. Here the Chinese rose bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus, a freshwater fish with a resource-based mating system, was used to separate additive and nonadditive Genetic benefits of female mate choice. A sequential blocked mating design was used to test female mate preferences, and a cross-classified breeding design coupled with in vitro fertilizations for fitness benefits of mate choice. In addition, the offspring produced by the pairing of preferred and nonpreferred males were reared to maturity and their fitness traits were compared. Finally, the MHC DAB1 gene was typed and male MHC genotypes were correlated with female mate choice. Females showed significant mate preferences but preferences were not congruent among females. There was a significant interaction of male and female genotype on offspring survival, rate of development, growth rate, and body size. No significant male additive effects on offspring fitness were observed. Female mate preferences corresponded with male Genetic Compatibility, which correlated with MHC dissimilarity. It is proposed that in the rose bitterling Genetic Compatibility is the mechanism by which females obtain a fitness benefit through mate choice and that male MHC dissimilarity, likely mediated by odor cues, indicates Genetic Compatibility.