Presentation Details
Evidence for a genetic correlation between parasite resistance and female mate preference

Payton A.Schaefer, Michal Polak.

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Abstract


Avoidance of parasitized mates is widely documented in animals, suggesting that parasitism plays an important role in sexual selection. If females prefer parasite-free males and parasite resistance is heritable, theoretical models predict the build-up of genetic covariance between resistance and female preference. Empirical tests of this prediction are rare. We examined the effect of ectoparasitic mites, Gamasodes pachysetis, on female mate choice in their natural host, Drosophila albomicans. Currently parasitized males elicited more rejection from females than never parasitized and previously parasitized males. Rejection responses were associated with reduced copulation success, indicating female preference for parasite-free mates. We then conducted twelve generations of artificial selection for increased parasite resistance. Resistance increased across replicate lines, indicating heritability. Females from selection lines were less likely to mate with parasitized males than control females, consistent with a correlated response in female mate preference to selection for resistance. These findings provide rare empirical support for the predicted genetic coupling of these traits.
 

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