A single episode of sexual reproduction can produce large variation in population growth rates under dual stressors

Sexual reproduction has been a central topic in evolutionary biology because of its many costs: why did organisms evolve sexual reproduction despite the many costs of sex? To answer the question, researchers have conducted laboratory experiments to measure population growth rates with and without sexual reproduction under a stressor. Here we show that a single episode of sexual reproduction can produce a large amount of variation in population growth rates under dual stressors by laboratory experiments of a green alga, Closterium peracerosum–strigosum–littorale complex. We observed population dynamics of the alga under dual stressors and confirmed that high salinity and low pH decreased growth rates. By comparing parental and their hybrid F1 populations, we observed larger variation in growth rates of F1 populations (i.e., transgressive segregation) when pH was low. Interestingly, even when parental populations had negative growth rates, some F1 populations showed positive growth r..., , # Data from: A single episode of sexual reproduction can produce large variation in population growth rates under dual stressors

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jq2bvq8m9](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.jq2bvq8m9)

## Description of the data and file structure

Growth rate data and an analysis script for Closterium psl. complex under multiple stressors

### Files and variables

#### File: All\_absorbance.csv

**Description**: Biomass data for each population under different conditions.

**Variable:**

* Population: Population names (NIES-64, NIES-65, F1-A, F1-B, F1-C, F1-D, F1-E, F1-F, F1-G or F1-H)
* pH: pH scales of medium conditions
* NaCl: NaCl concentration of medium conditions
* Day: Cultivation date
* Replicate: Replication number
* Absorbance: An absorbance of 684 nm
* Zygospore: Number of zygospores from which each F1 population germinated
* Category: Population categories (NIES-64, NIES-65 or F1)

#### File: GrowthRate.csv

**Description**: Growth rate data modeled non-linear l...,