Sex ratio affects sexual selection against mutant alleles in a locus-specific way.

ABSTRACT: Higher male:female operational sex ratio (OSR) is often assumed to lead to stronger sexual selection on males. Yet, this premise has been directly tested by very few studies, with mixed outcomes. We investigated how OSR affects the strength of sexual selection against two deleterious alleles, a natural ebony mutant and a transgenic GFP insertion, in Drosophila melanogaster. To this end, we estimated the relative paternity share of homozygous mutant males competing against wild-type males under different OSRs (1:2, 1:1, 2:1). We also manipulated the mating pool density (18, 36, or 54 individuals) and assessed paternity over three consecutive days, during which the nature of sexual interaction changed. The strength of sexual selection against the ebony mutant incr

SUBMITTER: Sharda S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10756055 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature