10.5061/DRYAD.6P150KF
Howie, James Malcolm
University College London
Dawson, Harry Alexander Cordeaux
University College London
Pomiankowski, Andrew
University College London
Fowler, Kevin
University College London
Data from: Limits to environmental masking of genetic quality in sexual signals
Dryad
dataset
2019
GxE
indirect genetic benefits
sexual ornament
stalk-eyed fly
Diasemopsis meigenii
Holocene
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
EP/F500351/1, EP/I017909/1, NE/G00563X/1, NE/R010579/1
2019-06-04T13:50:08Z
2019-06-04T13:50:08Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13491
125082 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
There is considerable debate over the value of male sexual ornaments as
signals of genetic quality. Studies alternately report that environmental
variation enhances or diminishes the genetic signal, or leads to crossover
where genotypes perform well in one environment but poorly in another. A
unified understanding is lacking. We conduct a novel experimental test
examining the dual effects of distinct categories of genetic (inbred
versus crossed parental lines) and environmental quality (low, through
high to extreme larval food stress) on a condition-dependent male
ornament. We find that differences in genetic quality signalled by the
ornament (male eyespan in Diasemopsis meigenii stalk-eyed flies) become
visible and are amplified under high stress but are overwhelmed in extreme
stress environments. Variance among independent genetic lines increases
with environmental stress in both genetic quality classes, but at a slower
rate in high quality outcrossed flies. Individual genetic lines generally
maintain their ranks across environments, except among high quality lines
under low environmental stress, where low genetic variance among lines
precludes differentiation between ranks. Our results provide a conceptual
advance, demonstrating a unified pattern for how genetic and environmental
quality interact. They show when environmental conditions lead to the
amplification of differences in signals of genetic quality and thereby
enhance the potential indirect genetic benefits gained by female mate
choice.
GxE DatasetMain data set. Information on Genetic and Environmental Quality
of individual files, from a set of inbred lines, with line information,
used in the analyses presented in the paper, Howie et al.
2019.DATA-GxE.txt
S. Africa