Inbreeding accelerates reproductive senescence, but not survival senescence, in a precocial bird
Data files
Oct 07, 2024 version files 7.90 MB
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Inbreeding_manuscript_JAE_dataset.xlsx
7.90 MB
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README.md
2.55 KB
Abstract
Inbreeding depression is predicted to increase with age because natural selection is less efficient at purging deleterious alleles that are only expressed later in life. However, empirical results are scarce, and equivocal between studies. Here we performed controlled matings between related and unrelated individuals of domesticated Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) and monitored the performance of their offspring for all fitness components over their complete life course. We found rapid senescence in adult survival and egg-laying performance, and inbreeding depression at all life stages (reduced embryo viability, increased age at maturity, as well as reduced adult survival and reproduction). Inbreeding depression did not increase at later ages for survival, but did so for egg laying, thereby accelerating reproductive senescence. Moreover, the effect of inbreeding on egg laying persisted after correcting for lifespan, indicating that both survival and reproduction were independently affected by inbreeding. We suggest that in heterogeneous populations intra-generational purging may at earlier ages already select out the individuals that are homozygous for the specific alleles responsible for depressed survival, preventing the appearance of increased inbreeding depression in survival with age. Given that inbreeding affects reproduction independent of survival this should not apply to reproductive senescence or homogeneous populations, which may explain equivocal results between traits and studies.
README: Inbreeding accelerates reproductive senescence, but not survival senescence, in a precocial bird
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mrr
Description of the data and file structure
Data on hatching success, survival to maturity, age of sexual maturity, age-specific daily adult survival, and age-specific egg-laying rate of Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica), analysed in relation to their individual inbreeding coefficient (F). All individuals were bred, kept, and monitored over their complete lifespan at the Institute of Avian Research in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Files and variables
File: Inbreeding_manuscript_JAE_dataset.xlsx
Description: 5 separate worksheets for 1) data on hatching success of all eggs, 2) data on the survival to, and age of, sexual maturity of all hatchlings, 3) data on lifespan of all adult females, 4) data on age-specific daily survival of all adult females, and 5) data on age-specific daily egg laying rate of all adult females. The variable definitions apply to all worksheets in which they are listed.
Variables
- Hatching year = The year in which the individual hatched.
- Father identity = A unique identifier of the father of the individual.
- Mother identity = A unique identifier of the mother of the individual.
- Pair identity = A unique identifier for the specific combination of parents of the individual.
- Inbreeding = A categorical variable that represents whether the individual was the result of a mating between related parents (1 = yes, 0 =no).
- F = An individual's inbreeding coefficient.
- Hatching success = A binary number representing whether an individual egg hatched (1 = yes, 0 = no).
- Sex = Sex of the individual (male or female).
- Age at maturity = The age, in days, at which an individual started the onset of reproductive activity.
- Survival to maturity = A binary number representing whether an individual hatchling survived to the age of onset of reproductive activity (1 = yes, 0 = no).
- Lifespan = The age, in days, at which the individual died.
- Age = The current age of the individual, in days.
- Survival = A binary number representing whether an individual survived that day (1 = yes, 0 = no).
- Laying egg = A binary number representing whether an individual laid an egg that day (1 = yes, 0 = no).
Code/software
The Excel worksheet was used in the basic version (.xlsx) and loaded in the R software (version 4.1.3, R Foundation for Statistical Computing).
Access information
NA
Methods
All data represent raw survival and egg-laying data at various life stages over the complete lifespan of female Japanese Quail, collected from a captive population kept at the Institute of Avian Research in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.