Genetic analysis of female preference functions as function-valued traits.

The genetic analysis of female preferences has been seen as a particularly challenging empirical endeavor because of difficulties in generating suitable preference metrics in experiments large enough to adequately characterize variation. In this article, we take an alternative approach, treating female preference as a function-valued trait and exploiting random-coefficient models to characterize the genetic basis of female preference without measuring preference functions in each individual. Applying this approach to Drosophila bunnanda, in which females assess males through a multivariate contact pheromone system, we gain three valuable insights into the genetic basis of female preference functions. First, most genetic variation was attributable to one eigenfunction, suggesting shared genetic control of preferences for nine male pheromones. Second, genetic variance in female preference functions was not associated with genetic variance in the pheromones, implying that genetic variation in female preference did not maintain genetic variation in male traits. Finally, breeding values for female preference functions were skewed away from the direction of selection on the male traits, suggesting directional selection on female preferences. The genetic analysis of female preference functions as function-valued traits offers a robust statistical framework for investigations of female preference, in addition to alleviating some experimental difficulties associated with estimating variation in preference functions.

McGuigan K ，Van Homrigh A ，Blows MW 《-》

Quantitative genetics of female mate preferences in an ancestral and a novel environment.

A female's mate preference is a potentially complex function relating variation in multiple male phenotypes with her probability of accepting individual males as a mate. Estimating the quantitative genetic basis preference functions within a population is empirically challenging yet key to understanding preference evolution. We employed a recently described approach that uses random-coefficient mixed models in the analysis of function-valued traits. Using a half-sibling breeding design in a laboratory-adapted Drosophila serrata population, we estimated the genetic (co)variance function of female preference for male sexual displays composed of nine contact pheromones. The breeding design was performed across two environments: the food to which the population was well adapted and a novel food that reduced average female productivity by 35%. Significant genetic variance in female preference was detected and the majority (64.2%) was attributable to a single genetic dimension (eigenfunction), suggesting that preferences for different pheromones are not genetically independent. The second eigenfunction, accounting for 24% of the total genetic variance, approached significance in a conservative test, suggesting the existence of a second, independent genetic dimension. There was no evidence that the genetic basis of female preference differed between the two environments, suggesting the absence of genotype-by-environment interactions and hence a lack of condition-dependent preference expression.

Delcourt M ，Blows MW ，Rundle HD 《-》

The depletion of genetic variance by sexual selection.

Van Homrigh A ，Higgie M ，McGuigan K ，Blows MW ... -  《CURRENT BIOLOGY》

An evolutionary limit to male mating success.

McGuigan K ，Van Homrigh A ，Blows MW 《EVOLUTION》

Measuring natural and sexual selection on breeding values of male display traits in Drosophila serrata.

Skroblin A ，Blows MW 《JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY》