Sex-ratio-distorting Wolbachia causes sex-role reversal in its butterfly host
Sex-ratio-distorting Wolbachia causes sex-role reversal in its butterfly host
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2000.0968
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发表时间：
2000-01-07
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Majerus, MEN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jiggins, FM;Hurst, GDD;Majerus, MEN
在性别角色颠倒的交配系统中，雌性竞争雄性，雄性可能是挑剔的，这通常与雄性在后代上的投资超过雌性有关。我们报告说，性别角色颠倒也可能是由自私的遗传因素引起的，这些因素扭曲了女性的性别比例。Acraea encedon和Acraea encedana的一些种群非常偏向雌性，因为超过90%的雌性蝴蝶感染了一种母系遗传的沃尔巴克氏菌，这种细菌会杀死雄性胚胎。这些种群中的许多雌性都是处女，这表明它们的生殖成功可能受到接触雄性的限制。这些雌性在地标上形成逗人发笑的蜂群，雌性在这些地标上表现出我们认为是为了向雄性求偶的行为。在释放-重新捕获实验中，交配的雌性往往离开群体，而未交配的雌性留下来，这一发现支持了雌性A.encedon为了交配而成群的假设。这种行为是昆虫常见交配系统的性别角色颠倒形式，在这种交配系统中，雄性在地标上形成逗逗性的蜂群，并争夺雌性。雌性觅食群不存在于较少的雌性偏向种群中，而在这里，蝴蝶与幼虫食物植物的形式的资源相联系。
Sex-role-reversed mating systems in which females compete for males and males may be choosy are usually associated with males investing more than females in offspring. We report that sex-role reversal may also be caused by selfish genetic elements which distort the sex ratio towards females. Some populations of the butterflies Acraea encedon and Acraea encedana are extremely female biased because over 90% of females are infected with a Wolbachia bacterium that is maternally inherited and kills male embryos. Many females in these populations are virgins suggesting that their reproductive success may be limited by access to males. These females form lekking swarms at landmarks in which females exhibit behaviours which we interpret as functioning to solicit matings from males. The hypothesis that female A. encedon swarm in order to mate is supported by the finding that, in release-recapture experiments, mated females tend to leave the swarm while unmated females remained. This behaviour is a sex-role-reversed form of a common mating system in insects in which males form lekking swarms at landmarks and compete for females. Female lekking swarms are absent from less female-biased populations and here the butterflies are instead associated with resources in the form of the larval food plant.