Nonadditive indirect effects of group genetic diversity on larval viability in Drosophila melanogaster imply key role of maternal decision-making.

ABSTRACT: Genetic variation can have important consequences for populations: high population genetic diversity is typically associated with ecological success. Some mechanisms that account for these benefits assume that local social groups with high genetic diversity are more successful than low-diversity groups. At the same time, active decision-making by individuals can influence group genetic diversity. Here, we examine how maternal decisions that determine group genetic diversity influence the viability of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. Our groups contained wild-type larvae, whose genetic diversity we manipulated, and genetically marked 'tester' larvae, whose genotype and frequency were identical in all trials. We measured wild-type and tester viability for each group. Surprisingly, the viabili

SUBMITTER: Saltz JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3531796 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature