Beyond Bateman's Experiment: A Test of Classical Ideas in Sexual Selection Using Modern Molecular Methods

这些实验将复制和扩展性选择研究中的一个关键引文，贝特曼（1948）。 这是一项关于果蝇交配成功方差（MSV）性别差异的经典研究，使用具有独特可遗传突变表型的近交个体来推断交配成功。 突变表型可能影响了贝特曼的结果。 因此，在这项研究中，研究人员将使用分子DNA分析三个物种的野生型个体，黑腹果蝇，D。pseudobscura和D. hydei，其在精子大小、每次射精的精子数、配子大小比和雌性再交配的精子数上不同。目的是验证性别差异的MSV在D。黑腹果蝇是相似的贝特曼发现，并测试重叠的预测，更现代的理论的原因，MSV的性别差异，通过比较的三个物种，不同的因素广泛认为影响MSV。 智力上的优点在于MSV的性别差异对性选择的重要性。贝特曼的结果是雄性比雌性的MSV更大，这是性选择的核心原则，但由于有害突变表型的潜在影响，对他的结果仍然存在疑问。更广泛的影响包括：（1）PI将包括本科生在他们的研究。(2)PI将从附近历史悠久的黑人大学，如斯派曼，莫尔豪斯和克拉克亚特兰大招募实习生。 (3)PI将通过赞助关于生物多样性和动物行为的系列推广活动来提高K-12教育的质量。(4)PI将通过NSF教师研究经验计划招募K-12教师参与他们的研究。(5)研究所会撰写文章，向公众广泛宣传研究成果。

The experiments will replicate and extend a key citation in the study of sexual selection, Bateman (1948). This classic study of sex differences in mating success variance (MSV) in Drosophila melanogaster used inbred individuals with unique heritable mutant phenotypes to infer mating success. Mutant phenotypes might have affected Bateman's results. Thus, in this research the investigators will assign parentage using molecular DNA analyses of wild-type individuals in three species, Drosophia melanogaster, D. pseudoobscura, and D. hydei, which differ in sperm size, sperm number per ejaculate, gamete size ratios, and female remating latencies. The objectives are to verify that sex differences in MSVs in D. melanogaster are similar to those Bateman found and to test the overlapping predictions of more modern theories of the causes of sex differences in MSVs through comparisons of three species that differ in factors widely-thought to affect MSVs. The intellectual merit lies in the importance of sex differences in MSV to sexual selection. Bateman's result that MSV is greater among males than females is a central tenet of sexual selection, yet doubts about his results remain because of the potential effects of deleterious mutant phenotypes. The broader impacts include: (1) The PIs' will include undergraduate students in their research. (2) The PIs will recruit interns from nearby historically black colleges such as Spellman, Morehouse, and Clark-Atlanta. (3) The PI's will improve the quality of K-12 education through sponsoring an outreach series on biodiversity and animal behavior. (4) The PI's will recruit K-12 teachers to participate in their research through the NSF-Research Experiences for Teachers program. (5) The PIs will broadly disseminate the results of their research by writing articles for the public.