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.

这些实验将复制并扩展性选择研究中的一个关键引文，贝特曼（Bateman，1948）。 这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，研究人员将通过对黑腹果蝇、假暗果蝇和海德果蝇这三个物种的野生型个体进行分子DNA分析来确定亲子关系，这三个物种的精子大小、每次射精的精子数量、配子大小比例和雌性再交配潜伏期都不同。目的是验证黑腹果蝇中 MSV 的性别差异与贝特曼发现的相似，并通过比较广泛认为影响 MSV 的因素不同的三个物种来测试关于 MSV 性别差异原因的更现代理论的重叠预测。 其智力价值在于 MSV 中性别差异对性选择的重要性。贝特曼的研究结果表明，雄性中的 MSV 比雌性更大，这是性选择的核心原则，但由于有害突变表型的潜在影响，对其结果的怀疑仍然存在。更广泛的影响包括： (1) PI 将让本科生参与他们的研究。 (2) PI 将从附近的历史悠久的黑人大学（如斯佩尔曼、莫尔豪斯和克拉克-亚特兰大）招募实习生。 (3) PI 将通过赞助有关生物多样性和动物行为的推广系列活动来提高 K-12 教育质量。 (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) PI将通过撰写文章向公众广泛传播其研究成果。