Dissertation Research: Evolutionary Genetics of Selective Preference and Gamete Competition in Drosophila

性别选择是雄性之间争夺配偶的选择性力量，近年来受到越来越多的关注。研究人员发现了一系列令人震惊的生物学特征，雄性进化这些特征是为了提高他们获得配偶的成功。这项研究旨在研究雌性果蝇如何影响性别选择的过程，特别是果蝇中来自多个雄性的精子在雌性生殖道内竞争的方式。这项研究的第一部分将研究不同女性基因型之间的精子竞争模式是如何变化的。第二个部分将考察男性的吸引力与其精子与其他男性精子竞争能力之间的关系。最后一个部分将决定男性的吸引力是否由于女性的兼性反应而降低了精子的竞争能力。虽然男性在性选择中的作用已经得到了广泛的研究，但对女性的作用知之甚少。通常，女性被认为是被动的参与者，她们的偏好和其他生殖行为几乎没有变化。为了从总体上更全面地了解生殖决定，我们需要在我们已经知道的关于雄性交配决定的基础上，更全面地了解女性的视角。

Abstract9902167Sexual selection, the selective force that results from competition between males for access to mates, has received increasing attention in recent years. Researchers have uncovered a startling array of biological traits that males have evolved to enhance their success in obtaining mates. This study seeks to examine how females might influence the process of sexual selection, and in particular, the way in which sperm from multiple males compete within a female's reproductive tract in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The first component of this study will examine how patterns of sperm competition vary among different female genotypes. The second component will look at the relationship between how attractive a male is and the ability of his sperm to compete with other males' sperm. The final component will determine whether males with experimentally reduced attractiveness have reduced sperm competitive ability, due to facultative responses in the female.While the male role in sexual selection has been examined extensively, far less is known of the female role. Typically, females have been considered as passive participants whose preferences and other reproductive behaviors vary little. In order to more fully understand reproductive decisions in general, we need to add a more complete understanding of the female perspective to what we already know about the mating decisions of males.