Data from: Does multiple paternity influence offspring disease-resistance?

It has been suggested that polyandry allows females to increase offspring
genetic diversity and reduce the prevalence and susceptibility of their
offspring to infectious diseases. We tested this hypothesis in
wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus) by experimentally infecting the
offspring from 15 single- and 15 multiple-sired litters with two different
strains of a mouse pathogen (Salmonella Typhimurium) and compared their
ability to control infection. We found a high variation in individual
infection resistance (measured with pathogen loads) and significant
differences among families, suggesting genetic effects on Salmonella
resistance, but we found no difference in prevalence or infection
resistance between single- vs. multiple-sired litters. We found a
significant sex difference in infection resistance, but surprisingly,
males were more resistant to infection than females. Also, infection
resistance was correlated with weight loss during infection, although only
for females, indicating that susceptibility to infection had more harmful
health consequences for females than for males. To our knowledge, our
findings provide the first evidence for sex-dependent resistance to
Salmonella infection in house mice. Our results do not support the
hypothesis that multiple-sired litters are more likely to survive
infection than single-sired litters; however, as we explain, additional
studies are required before ruling out this hypothesis.