Publication Date:
2011-11-05
Description:
Theory predicts that local mate competition (LMC) favors the evolution of female-biased sex ratios. Empirical support of this prediction is indirect and comes from comparative studies or from studies showing that individuals can adjust their offspring sex ratio in response to varying LMC intensities. Replicate lines from a population of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae were selected under three LMC intensities for up to 54 generations. Within each selection regime, the final sex ratio matched theoretical predictions. Furthermore, the ability of individuals to adjust their offspring sex ratio diminished in females evolving under strict LMC, but not in females evolving under relaxed LMC levels. These results provide direct experimental evidence for the evolutionary process by which LMC modifies sex-allocation strategies and suggest that evolution under strict and constant LMC may lead to a loss of phenotypic plasticity.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Macke, Emilie -- Magalhaes, Sara -- Bach, Fabien -- Olivieri, Isabelle -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2011 Nov 25;334(6059):1127-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1212177. Epub 2011 Nov 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, UMR 5554, Universite Montpellier 2, Place Eugene Bataillon, Montpellier cedex 05, France. emilie.macke@univ-montp2.fr〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22052976" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
*Biological Evolution
;
Competitive Behavior
;
Female
;
Genetic Fitness
;
Male
;
*Mating Preference, Animal
;
Selection, Genetic
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*Sex Ratio
;
*Sexual Behavior, Animal
;
Tetranychidae/genetics/*physiology
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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