The adaptive function of sex has been extensively studied, while less consideration has been given to the potential downstream consequences of sex on evolution. Here, we investigate one such potential consequence, the effect of sex on the repeatability of evolution. By affecting the repeatability of evolution, sex could have important implications for biodiversity, and for our ability to make predictions about the outcome of environmental change. We allowed asexual and sexual populations of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to evolve in novel environments and monitored both their change in fitness and variance in fitness after evolution. Sex affected the repeatability of evolution by changing the importance of the effect of selection, chance, and ancestral constraints on the outcome of the evolutionary process. In particular, the effects of sex were highly dependent on the initial genetic composition of the population and on the environment. Given the lack of a consistent effect of sex on repeatability across the environments used here, further studies to dissect in more detail the underlying reasons for these differences as well as studies in additional environments are required if we are to have a general understanding of the effects of sex on the repeatability of evolution.
OD readings taken during the selection experiment
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements made at the end of each asexual and each sexual cycle during the course of the selection experiment. "Reproduction": mode of reproduction of the experimental line; "Environment": environment of selection; "History": genetic history of the experimental line (3 levels); "Cycle": wether the absorbance was measured at the end of an asexual cycle or at the end of a sexual cycle; "Time": cycle number
OD_readings.csv
OD readings taken during the ancestral fitness assay
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements of each culture taken during the fitness assay of the ancestral spores. "Environment": assay environment; "History": genetic history of the ancestral spore (3 levels); "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Mt": mating type of the spore; "Replicate": replicate; "Time": time in days; "corrOD": absorbance corrected by the optical density of a well containing media but no cells; "corrLOG10N": the log10 value of the corrected OD measurement
OD_readings_ancestral_fitness_assay.csv
OD readings taken during the fitness assay of lines evolved in Bolds
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements of each culture taken during the fitness assay of the lines evolved in Bold's. "Selection": whether the spore assayed is ancestral or evolved; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Reproduction": the mode of reproduction of the lines during the selection experiment; "Line": number identifying the line; "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Time": time in days; "corrOD": the optical density value corrected by the OD value of a well with media only; "corrLOG10N": the log10 value of the corrected OD value.
OD_readings_evolved_fitness_assay_Bolds.csv
OD readings taken during the fitness assay of the lines evolved in Herbicides
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements of each culture taken during the fitness assay of the lines evolved in Herbicides. "Selection": whether the spore assayed is ancestral or evolved; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Reproduction": the mode of reproduction of the lines during the selection experiment; "Line": number identifying the line; "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Time": time in days; "corrOD": the optical density value corrected by the OD value of a well with media only; "corrLOG10N": the log10 value of the corrected OD value.
OD_readings_evolved_fitness_assay_Herbicides.csv
OD readings taken during fitness assay of lines evolved NaCl
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements of each culture taken during the fitness assay of the lines evolved in NaCl. "Selection": whether the spore assayed is ancestral or evolved; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Reproduction": the mode of reproduction of the lines during the selection experiment; "Line": number identifying the line; "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Time": time in days; "corrOD": the optical density value corrected by the OD value of a well with media only; "corrLOG10N": the log10 value of the corrected OD value.
OD_readings_evolved_fitness_assay_NaCl.csv
OD readings taken during fitness assay of lines evolved inNa2SO4
This file contains the optical density ("absorbance") measurements of each culture taken during the fitness assay of the lines evolved in Na2SO4. "Selection": whether the spore assayed is ancestral or evolved; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Reproduction": the mode of reproduction of the lines during the selection experiment; "Line": number identifying the line; "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Time": time in days; "corrOD": the optical density value corrected by the OD value of a well with media only; "corrLOG10N": the log10 value of the corrected OD value.
OD_readings_evolved_fitness_assay_Na2SO4.csv
growth parameters of ancestral spores
This file contains the estimates of growth parameters (maximum growth rate) for the ancestral spores. The growth parameters were estimated by fitting growth models onto the OD readings from the fitness assay. "Environment": the environment in which maximum growth rate was measured; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Mt": mating type of the spore; "lag", "mumax", "log10N0", "log10Nmax": growth parameters; "growth_model": the model that was fitted to the data to estimate the growth parameters
growth_parameters_ancestral_fitness_assay.csv
growth parameters of evolved and ancestral spores from evolved fitness assay
This file contains the estimates of growth parameters (maximum growth rate) for the evolved lines and fastest growing ancestral spores. The growth parameters were estimated by fitting growth models onto the OD readings from the fitness assay. "Environment": the environment in which maximum growth rate was measured; "Selection": whether the spore is ancestral or evolved; "History": the genetic history of the lines (3 levels); "Reproduction": the mode of reproduction of the lines during the selection experiment; "Line": number identifying the experimental line; "Spore": number identifying the spore; "Replicate": replicate culture; "Mt": mating type of the spore; "lag", "mumax", "log10N0", "log10Nmax": growth parameters; "growth_model": the model that was fitted to the data to estimate the growth parameters
growth.parameters.evolved.fitness.assay.csv