Experimental evolution under varying sex ratio and nutrient availability modulates male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster

Sepil, Irem, Perry, Jennifer C, Dore, Alice, Chapman, Tracey and Wigby, Stuart ORCID: 0000-0002-2260-2948 (2022) Experimental evolution under varying sex ratio and nutrient availability modulates male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster BIOLOGY LETTERS, 18 (6). 20210652-. ISSN 1744-9561, 1744-957X

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Abstract

Biased population sex ratios can alter optimal male mating strategies, and allocation to reproductive traits depends on nutrient availability. However, there is little information on how nutrition interacts with sex ratio to influence the evolution of pre-copulatory and post-copulatory traits separately. To address this omission, we test how male mating success and reproductive investment evolve under varying sex ratios and adult diet in Drosophila melanogaster, using experimental evolution. We found that sex ratio and nutrient availability interacted to determine male pre-copulatory performance. Males from female-biased populations were slow to mate when they evolved under protein restriction. By contrast, we found direct and noninteracting effects of sex ratio and nutrient availability on post-copulatory success. Males that evolved under protein restriction were relatively poor at suppressing female remating. Males that evolved under equal sex ratios fathered more offspring and were better at supressing female remating, relative to males from male-biased or female-biased populations. These results support the idea that sex ratios and nutrition interact to determine the evolution of pre-copulatory mating traits, but independently influence the evolution of post-copulatory traits.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	experimental evolution, sexual selection, sex ratio, nutrient availability, pre-copulatory mating traits, post-copulatory mating traits
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Infection, Vet & Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	04 May 2022 13:46
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 11:31
DOI:	10.1098/rsbl.2021.0652
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3154237
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