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

这些实验将复制并扩展贝特曼（Bateman, 1948）在性选择研究中的一个重要引证。这项关于黑腹果蝇交配成功方差（MSV）性别差异的经典研究使用具有独特遗传突变表型的近交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，在本研究中，研究人员将利用分子DNA分析三个物种的野生型个体，即黑腹果蝇、伪眼果蝇和海德果蝇，它们在精子大小、每次射精的精子数量、配子大小比和雌性交配潜伏期方面存在差异。研究的目的是验证黑胃d.m anogaster中微孢子虫的性别差异是否与贝特曼发现的相似，并通过对三种被广泛认为影响微孢子虫的因素不同的物种进行比较，检验更现代的微孢子虫性别差异原因理论的重叠预测。智力上的优点在于MSV中的性别差异对性选择的重要性。贝特曼的结论是男性比女性的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怀疑。更广泛的影响包括：(1)pi将包括本科生参与他们的研究。(2) pi将从斯佩尔曼（Spellman）、莫尔豪斯（Morehouse）和克拉克-亚特兰大（Clark-Atlanta）等附近历史悠久的黑人学院招募实习生。(3) PI将通过赞助一系列关于生物多样性和动物行为的外展活动来提高K-12教育的质量。(4) PI将通过nsf教师研究经验项目招募K-12教师参与他们的研究。(5)通过撰写文章向公众广泛传播他们的研究成果。

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.