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，可将多种雄性表型变异与雌性接纳特定雄性作为配偶的概率相关联。估算种群内配偶偏好函数的数量遗传基础，在实验层面极具挑战性，却是解析偏好演化机制的核心要点。本研究采用了近年提出的分析方法，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）的统计分析。我们以适应实验室饲养条件的锯缘果蝇（Drosophila serrata）种群为研究对象，采用半同胞育种设计（half-sibling breeding design），估算了雌性针对由9种接触性信息素构成的雄性性展示的配偶偏好的遗传（共）方差函数。本次育种实验设置了两类实验环境：一是该种群长期适应的标准食物培养基，二是可使雌性平均繁殖力降低35%的新型食物培养基。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%）可归因于单一遗传维度——本征函数（eigenfunction），这表明针对不同信息素的配偶偏好并非遗传上相互独立。占总遗传变异24%的第二本征函数，在保守显著性检验中接近临界值，这提示存在第二个独立的遗传维度。未发现两类实验环境下雌性配偶偏好的遗传基础存在差异的证据，这表明不存在基因型-环境互作（genotype-by-environment interactions），因此不存在依赖于生理状态的偏好表达。