10.5061/DRYAD.NP5HQBZQ8
Keaney, Thomas
0000-0001-7692-6190
University of Melbourne
Wong, Heidi
University of Melbourne
Dowling, Damian
Monash University
Jones, Theresa
University of Melbourne
Holman, Luke
0000-0002-7268-2173
University of Melbourne
Data from: Sibling rivalry vs mother’s curse: can kin competition
facilitate a response to selection on male mitochondria?
Dryad
dataset
2020
2020-07-01T00:00:00Z
2020-07-01T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0575
261213 bytes
4
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Assuming that fathers never transmit mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to their
offspring, mitochondrial mutations that affect male fitness are invisible
to direct selection on males, leading to an accumulation of male-harming
alleles in the mitochondrial genome (mother’s curse). However, male
phenotypes encoded by mtDNA can still undergo adaptation via kin selection
provided that males interact with females carrying related mtDNA, such as
their sisters. Here, using experiments with Drosophila melanogaster
carrying standardised nuclear DNA but distinct mitochondrial DNA, we test
whether the mitochondrial haplotype carried by interacting pairs of larvae
affects survival to adulthood, as well as the fitness of the adults.
Although mtDNA had no detectable direct or indirect genetic effect on
larva-to-adult survival, the fitness of male and female adults was
significantly affected by their own mtDNA and the mtDNA carried by their
social partner in the larval stage. Thus, mtDNA mutations that alter the
effect of male larvae on nearby female larvae (which often carry the same
mutation, due to kinship) could theoretically respond to kin selection. We
discuss the implications of our findings for the evolution of mitochondria
and other maternally inherited endosymbionts.
This data was collected during laboratory experiments using Drosophila
melanogaster. It has been used in the manuscript titled "Sibling
rivalry vs mother’s curse: can kin competition facilitate a response to
selection on male mitochondria?", to be published in Proceedings of
the Royal Society B.