Skip to main content
Dryad

Data from: Stabilising selection on microsatellite allele length at arginine vasopressin 1a receptor and oxytocin receptor loci

Cite this dataset

Watts, Phillip C. et al. (2017). Data from: Stabilising selection on microsatellite allele length at arginine vasopressin 1a receptor and oxytocin receptor loci [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j7h0c

Abstract

The loci arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (avpr1a) and oxytocin receptor (oxtr) have evolutionarily conserved roles in vertebrate social and sexual behavior. Allelic variation at a microsatellite locus in the 5’ regulatory region of these genes is associated with fitness in the bank vole Myodes glareolus. Given the low frequency of long and short alleles at these microsatellite loci in wild bank voles, we used breeding trials to determine whether selection acts against long and short alleles. Female bank voles with intermediate length avpr1a alleles had the highest probability of breeding, while male voles whose avpr1a alleles were very different in length had reduced probability of breeding. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between male and female oxtr genotypes, where potential breeding pairs with dissimilar length alleles had reduced probability of breeding. These data show how genetic variation at microsatellite loci associated with avpr1a and oxtr is associated with fitness, and highlight complex patterns of selection at these loci. More widely, these data show how stabilising selection might act on allele length frequency distributions at gene-associated microsatellite loci.

Usage notes

Location

Finland