Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring.

ABSTRACT: A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differenc

SUBMITTER: Pilakouta N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5031652 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature