Estimates of fitness, mate choice, sperm offense and mate harm under male limited experimental evolution.

Associated Publication

• Title: Rapid male benefit adaptation in response to sex-limitation, mates, and genetic context in Drosophila melanogaster.
• Journal: Evolution
• Authors:
  • Harshavardhan Thyagarajan,
  • Mindy G. Baroody,
  • Imran Sayyed,
  • Joshua A. Kowal,
  • Troy Day,
  • Adam K. Chippindale
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpag162

Dataset Overview

This dataset contains experimental data on fitness, mate choice, sperm competition and mate harm measurements for male-limited and control populations. The data pertains to experimentally evolved Drosophila melanogaster populations. The data are provided as CSV files.

The five files correspond to different experimental assays:

1. M_CRF_combined.csv — Male competitive reproductive fitness assay
2. M_MC_combined.csv — Male mating competition assay
3. M_SC_combined.csv — Male sperm competition assay
4. M_MH_CG.csv — Male mate harm assay
5. CG_CRF_combined.csv — Male and female competitive reproductive fitness assays - conducted on animals carrying a component of the clone generator genetic background.

Common variables:

1. Selection
   ML — Male limited
   MC — Matched control (matched by replicate number, for example ML1 and MC1)
2. Female
   C — Control like females
   CG — Clone generator females
3. Genetic background
   C — Control like
   CG — Clone generator like
4. Replicate — This describes the replicate pairs of selected and control populations.
5. Contest — An identifier for a distinct chamber in which an assay was conducted.

File Details

1. M_CRF_combined.csv

• Dimensions: 667 rows × 7 columns
• Columns:
  • Selection — Described above, categorical
  • Female — Described above, categorical
  • Genetic Background — Described above, categorical
  • Replicate — Described above, categorical
  • Contest — Described above, categorical
  • Red — Number of wild type progeny, count
  • U — Number of mutant progeny, count

2. M_MC_combined.csv

• Dimensions: 1155 rows × 11 columns
• Columns:
  • Selection — Described above, categorical
  • Female — Described above, categorical
  • Genetic Background — Described above, categorical
  • Replicate — Described above, categorical
  • Contest — Described above, categorical
  • Obs.start.time — Observation start time (in the form of minutes from an arbitrary common zero for the assay)
  • Mating.start.time — Time when mating began (in the form of minutes from an arbitrary common zero for the assay)
  • Mating.end.time — Time when mating ended (in the form of minutes from an arbitrary common zero for the assay)
  • Mated.male — Identity of mating male (wt - aka target / bw - recessive competitor), categorical
  • Offspring_m — Number of male offspring, count
  • Offspring_f — Number of female offspring, count

3. M_SC_combined.csv

• Dimensions: 1152 rows × 7 columns
• Columns:
  • Selection — Described above, categorical
  • Female — Described above, categorical
  • Genetic Background — Described above, categorical
  • Replicate — Described above, categorical
  • Contest — Described above, categorical
  • WT — Number of red-eyed progeny, count
  • U — Number of mutant progeny, count

4. M_MH_CG.csv

• Dimensions: 120 rows × 13 columns
• Columns:
  • Selection — Described above, categorical
  • Genetic Background — Described above, categorical
  • Replicate — Described above, categorical
  • Contest — Described above, categorical
  • Productivity — Number of offspring (pupal form), count
  • Day0, Day1 ... Day7 (8 columns) — Number of surviving females, days counted from day of male introduction (day0), count

5. CG_CRF_combined.csv

• Dimensions: 1081 rows × 9 columns
• Columns:
  • Selection — Described above, categorical
  • Sex — Sex of target flies (M or F), categorical
  • Replicate — Described above, categorical
  • Contest — Described above, categorical
  • Cyto — Cytoplasm type of target animal (Control like C, or Clone generator like CG), categorical
  • Auto — Autosome type of target animal (Control like C, or Clone generator like CG), categorical
  • Y — Y chromosome type of target animal (Control like C, or Clone generator like CG), categorical
  • WT — Number of red-eyed progeny, count
  • U — Number of mutant progeny, count

Methods

Breeding designs used to produce animals from various treatments can be found in the online supplement of the associated publication.

1. Competitive reproductive fitness CRF was measured as competitive siring/damming success from mating arenas
   (ventilated ½ pint bottles, with ~7 mL of food) containing 30 target animals combined with 30
   marked competitors of the same sex and 50 individuals of the opposite sex. Reproductive success
   was measured by phenotyping the progeny using eye colour. In assays using CG females, we
   assessed 10 such competition arenas for both MLs and MCs within each replicate; and collected
   all the eggs laid (typically yielding 1-2 vials of ~80 viable individuals). For all other CRF assays,
   we assessed 6 such competition arenas and collected 6 vials of ~80 eggs. The fully factorial CRF
   assay across genetic background and female type was performed at generation 64, and the CG
   component male CRF assays were conducted over generations 68–72. CG-cyto and CG-auto
   female CRF was assayed in generation 83.
2. Mating success: Female mate choice (or male-male competition) was assayed in generation 66 by
   combining a single virgin female (CG or competitor) with a target male and competitor male in
   vials with ~4mL food. We identified the sire by phenotyping the progeny using eye colour. The
   resulting brood was also sexed and enumerated to test for fecundity induction (male influence on
   female egg output) and sex ratio. Matings were observed to estimate mating latency and
   copulation duration. For each treatment (within each replicate pair of lines), we assessed 50 such
   competition vials
3. Sperm competition (P2): Sperm offense (P2) was assayed (in generation 74) by first mating groups of virgin CG or
   competitor females with marker-matched competitor males in vials (12 female–male pairs per
   vial; ~4 mL food). Following removal of the competitor males under brief CO₂ anesthesia,
   females were held for 24 hours before being exposed to focal males (10 per vial). From each
   vial, 10 randomly selected females were then transferred to individual egg-laying tubes, yielding
   10 P2 estimates per competition vial. P2 was scored as the proportion of offspring sired by the
   focal males, with 30 replicate competition vials scored per treatment within each replicate line
   pair.
4. Mate harm assays: Mate harm was assayed (in generation 76) by measuring CG female mortality and
   productivity in response to being exposed to males. Following the crossing design, eggs of test
   animals were collected to produce densities of ~80 larvae per vial. Test males were collected on
   day 10-11. On day 12, 10 test males were combined in vials with 12 virgin CG females of the
   same age, in vials with ~4mL food. Flies were held together for days 12-14, at which point the
   males were removed from the females using gentle anaesthesia. Female mortality was recorded
   daily for 7 days starting with the introduction of males, and the productivity of the females post
   mating was measured in the form of pupal counts.

License

This dataset is released under the CC0 1.0 Universal license in accordance with Dryad’s policies.

Citation

If using this data, please cite the associated article, and / or:

Thyagarajan, H. et al. (2026). Rapid male benefit adaptation in response to sex-limitation, mates, and genetic context in Drosophila melanogaster.
Dryad Digital Repository. DOI: 10.5061/dryad.r2280gbv8