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

超越贝特曼的实验：使用现代分子方法检验性选择的经典思想

• 批准号: 0911606
• 负责人: Patricia Gowaty
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-28 至 2011-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0911606&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Beyond; Bateman; Experiment; Test; Classical

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.

这些实验将复制和扩展贝特曼(1948)在性选择研究中的关键引文。这项关于果蝇交配成功差异(MSV)性别差异的经典研究使用了具有独特可遗传突变表型的近交系个体来推断交配成功。突变的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分析方法对三个物种的野生型个体进行亲子鉴定，这三个物种的精子大小、每次射精的精子数量、配子大小比率和雌性保留潜伏期都不同。这些研究的目的是验证黑腹果蝇MSVS的性别差异与贝特曼发现的相似，并通过比较三种被广泛认为影响MSVS的因素不同的物种，来测试更现代的理论对MSVS性别差异原因的重叠预测。智力上的价值在于MSV中的性别差异对性选择的重要性。贝特曼关于MSV在男性中大于女性的结果是性选择的核心原则，但由于有害突变表型的潜在影响，他的结果仍然受到怀疑。更广泛的影响包括：(1)PI将把本科生纳入他们的研究范围。(2)PI将从附近历史上的黑人大学招聘实习生，如斯佩尔曼大学、莫尔豪斯大学和克拉克-亚特兰大大学。(3)通过赞助关于生物多样性和动物行为的外展系列活动，国际动物保护协会将提高K-12教育的质量。(4)国际教师协会将通过NSF-教师研究体验计划招募K-12教师参与他们的研究。(5)督导人员会以撰写文章的形式，广泛地向公众公布其研究结果。