Data from: Quantitative genetics of female mate preferences in an ancestral and a novel environment

A female’s mate preference is a potentially complex function relating variation in multiple male phenotypes with her probability of accepting individual males as a mate. Estimating the quantitative genetic basis of preference functions within a population is empirically challenging yet key to understanding preference evolution. We employed a recently described approach that uses random-coefficient mixed models in the analysis of function-valued traits. Using a half-sibling breeding design in a laboratory-adapted Drosophila serrata population, we estimated the genetic (co)variance function of female preference for male sexual displays composed of nine contact pheromones. The breeding design was performed across two environments: the food to which the population was well adapted and a novel food that reduced average female productivity by 35%. Significant genetic variance in female preference was detected and the majority (64.2%) was attributable to a single genetic dimension (eigenfunction), suggesting that preferences for different pheromones are not genetically independent. The second eigenfunction, accounting for 24% of the total genetic variance, approached significance in a conservative test, suggesting the existence of a second, independent genetic dimension. There was no evidence that the genetic basis of female preference differed between the two environments, suggesting the absence of genotype-by-environment interactions and hence a lack of condition-dependent preference expression.

雌性配偶偏好是一类潜在复杂的函数关系，该关系将多种雄性表型的变异与雌性接受单个雄性作为配偶的概率相关联。在种群内估算配偶偏好函数的数量遗传基础，在实验层面颇具挑战性，却是理解偏好演化的关键所在。我们采用了近期提出的分析方法，该方法将随机系数混合模型（random-coefficient mixed models）应用于函数值性状（function-valued traits）的分析。我们在经实验室驯化的Serrata果蝇（Drosophila serrata）种群中开展半同胞育种设计，针对由9种接触信息素构成的雄性性展示，估算了雌性配偶偏好的遗传（共）方差函数。本次育种设计设置了两种环境：一是该种群已适应的食物环境，二是会使雌性平均繁殖力下降35%的新型食物环境。研究检测到雌性配偶偏好存在显著的遗传变异，其中大部分（64.2%）可归因于单个遗传维度——特征函数（eigenfunction），这表明针对不同信息素的偏好并非遗传独立。占总遗传变异24%的第二特征函数在保守检验中接近显著水平，提示存在第二个独立的遗传维度。未发现雌性配偶偏好的遗传基础在两种环境间存在差异，这表明不存在基因型-环境互作（genotype-by-environment interactions），因此不存在依赖于条件的偏好表达。