Male-killing bacteria trigger a cycle of increasing male fatigue and female promiscuity

Male-killing bacteria trigger a cycle of increasing male fatigue and female promiscuity
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DOI:
10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.068
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发表时间:
2007-02-06
期刊:
影响因子:
9.2
通讯作者:
Hurst, Gregory D. D.
Hurst, Gregory D. D.
中科院分区:
生物学1区
文献类型:
--
作者:
Charlat, Sylvain;Reuter, Max;Hurst, Gregory D. D.

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性别比扭曲在许多物种中被发现,并且在种群中出现的频率很高。在这里,我们讨论了一个令人信服但没有得到检验的假设,即由这些因素引起的性别比偏差深刻地改变了它们的宿主的交配系统。我们比较了由于一种杀死雄性的沃尔巴克氏菌感染而表现出不同程度的雌性偏见的蝴蝶Hypolimas Bolina岛屿种群的雌性和雄性生殖生物学方面。与预期相反,雌性偏见会导致雌性交配频率增加,直到雄性交配能力受到限制。我们表明,雌性交配频率的增加可以解释为对雌性偏向种群中耗尽的雄性交配资源的兼性反应。换句话说,在这个系统中,杀死男性的细菌会引发恶性循环,导致男性疲惫加剧和女性滥交。
Sex-ratio distorters are found in numerous species and can reach high frequencies within populations. Here, we address the compelling, but poorly tested, hypothesis that the sex ratio bias caused by such elements profoundly alters their host's mating system. We compare aspects of female and male reproductive biology between island populations of the butterfly Hypolimnas bolina that show varying degrees of female bias, because of a male-killing Wolbachia infection. Contrary to expectation, female bias leads to an increase in female mating frequency, up to a point where male mating capacity becomes limiting. We show that increased female mating frequency can be explained as a facultative response to the depleted male mating resources in female biased populations. In other words, this system is one where male-killing bacteria trigger a vicious circle of increasing male fatigue and female promiscuity.