Sexual selection on spontaneous mutations strengthens the between-sex genetic correlation for fitness

A proposed benefit to sexual selection is that it promotes purging of deleterious mutations from populations. For this benefit to be realised, sexual selection, which is usually stronger on males, must purge mutations deleterious to both sexes. Here, we experimentally test the hypothesis that sexual selection on males purges deleterious mutations that affect both male and female fitness. We measured male and female fitness in two panels of spontaneous mutation-accumulation lines of the fly, Drosophila serrata, each established from a common ancestor. One panel of mutation accumulation lines limited both natural and sexual selection (LS lines), whereas the other panel limited natural selection, but allowed sexual selection to operate (SS lines). Although mutation accumulation caused a significant reduction in male and female fitness in both the LS and SS lines, sexual selection had no detectable effect on the extent of the fitness reduction. Similarly, despite evidence of mutational vari...

性选择的一项已被提出的益处在于，其可促进种群内有害突变的清除。要实现这一益处，通常作用于雄性的性选择，必须能够清除对两性均有害的突变。本研究通过实验检验了这一假说：作用于雄性的性选择能够清除同时影响雌雄个体适合度的有害突变。我们以起源于同一共同祖先的塞拉利亚果蝇（Drosophila serrata）的两组自发突变积累系为对象，测定了雌雄个体的适合度。其中一组突变积累系同时限制了自然选择与性选择（LS系），另一组则仅限制自然选择，保留性选择的作用（SS系）。尽管在LS系与SS系中，突变积累均导致雌雄适合度出现显著下降，但性选择对适合度下降的程度未产生可检测到的影响。类似地，尽管存在突变变异（mutational vari...）的相关证据