Data from: Male-biased fitness effects of spontaneous mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

In populations with males and females, sexual selection may often represent a major component of overall selection. Sexual selection could act to eliminate deleterious alleles in concert with other forms of selection, thereby improving the fitness of sexual populations. Alternatively, the divergent reproductive strategies of the sexes could promote the maintenance of sexually-antagonistic variation, causing sexual populations to be less fit. The net impact of sexual selection on fitness is not well understood, due in part to limited data on the sex-specific effects of spontaneous mutations on total fitness. Using a set of mutation accumulation lines of Drosophila melanogaster, we found that mutations were deleterious in both sexes and had larger effects on fitness in males than in females. This pattern is expected to reduce the mutation load of sexual females and promote the maintenance of sexual reproduction.

在雌雄异体种群中，性选择往往是整体选择的核心组成部分。性选择可与其他选择形式协同清除有害等位基因，进而提升有性生殖种群的适合度。反之，两性迥异的生殖策略可能会促进性拮抗变异的维持，导致有性生殖种群的适合度下降。性选择对适合度的净效应目前尚不清楚，部分原因在于自发突变对总适合度的性别特异性影响相关数据较为匮乏。本研究使用一系列黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的突变积累品系，发现突变在两性中均为有害，且在雄性中对适合度的影响程度大于雌性。该模式预计可降低有性生殖雌性的突变负荷，并促进有性生殖的维持。