Data from: Genetic variation in male mate choice for large females in Drosophila melanogaster

Freed, Grace S.1; Martinez, Isabella G.1; Lev, Avigayil1; Anthony Cuadrado, Ana-Maria1; Pischedda, Alison 1

Published Dec 17, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frh2

Data files

Dec 17, 2024 version files 175.07 KB

Abstract

Males in many species show courtship and mating preferences for certain females over others when given the choice. One of the most common targets of male mate choice in insects is female body size, with males preferring to court and mate with larger, higher-fecundity females and investing more resources in matings with those females. Although this preference is well-documented at the species level, less is known about how this preference varies within species and whether there is standing genetic variation for male mate choice within populations. We used hemiclonal analysis in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to test for heritable genetic variation in pre- and post-copulatory components of male mate choice for large females. We found additive genetic variation for both forms of male choice: males from different hemiclone lines varied in the strength of their courtship preferences for large females and the degree to which they extended matings with large females. Although males from hemiclone lines with stronger courtship preferences for large females were more likely to mate with those females, there was no genetic correlation between pre- and post-copulatory components of male mate choice, suggesting that they are under independent genetic control. Genetic variation in male mate choice may be widespread, potentially impacting the fitness of both sexes and the adaptive evolution of populations.

README: Data from: Genetic variation in male mate choice for large females in Drosophila melanogaster

Description of the data and file structure

MMCHC_PropL.csv
Proportion of courtship directed toward the large female. Data are displayed in Figure 1.
“Block” = the experimental block
“Observer” = the observer
"Clone" = the specific hemiclone line
“Vial” = the vial label for that male during that block
“TotalMinCourt” = the total number of minutes the male spent courting. Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).
“PreferenceIndex” = the preference index (PI) calculated for this male (this metric is not used in the current study but is how male mate choice has been measured previously in this D. mel population). Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).
"NewPropL" = the proportion of courtship units directed to the large female by the male ("UnitsCourtL/TotalUnits"). Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).
"UnitsCourtL" = the courtship units directed to the large female by the male. Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).
"TotalUnits" = the total courtship units for the male. Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).
"UnitsCourtS" = the courtship units directed to toward the small female by the male. Empty cells indicate that the male did not court during the experiment (or that courtship data was missed).

MMCHC_CE.csv
Courtship effort data. Calculated as the total number of minutes spent courting divided by the possible courtship minutes (either the minute mating began or 30 for males that did not mate).
“Block” = the experimental block
“Observer” = the observer
"Clone" = the specific hemiclone line
“Vial” = the vial label for that male during that block
“TotalMinCourt” = the total number of minutes the male spent courting. Empty cells indicate that courtship data was missed.
“TotalMinNotCourt" = the total number of minutes (out of 30 or until mating began) that the male spent not courting. Empty cells indicate that courtship data was missed.

MMCHC_Mating.csv
Data for the size of the female mated and mating duration with that female. Mating duration data are displayed in Figure 2.
“Block” = the experimental block
“Observer” = the observer
"Clone" = the specific hemiclone line
“Vial” = the vial label for that male during that block
"SizFemMated" = the size of the female mated ("L" = large, "S" = small). If blank, the male did not mate.
"SizeFemMatedBinary" = the size of the female mated, coded in binary (1 = large, 0 = small). If blank, the male did not mate.
"MatingStart" = the minute that mating began. If blank, the male did not mate
"MatingEnd" = the minute that mating ended. If blank, the male did not mate
"MatingDuration" = the duration of mating in minutes. If blank, the male did not mate

MMCHC_Success.csv
Mating success data (whether or not the male mated).
“Block” = the experimental block
“Observer” = the observer
"Clone" = the specific hemiclone line
“Vial” = the vial label for that male during that block
"MatingSuccess" = Whether or not the male mated ("Yes" = mated, "No" = did not mate)
"MatingSuccessBinary" = Whether or not the male mated, coded in binary (1 = Yes, 0 = No)

MMCHC_Correlations
Means for each hemiclone line used to test for genetic correlations.
"Clone" = the specific hemiclone line
"PI" = the mean preference index for that hemiclone clone (this this metric is not used in the current study but is how male mate choice has been measured previously in this D. mel population)
"PropL" = the mean proportion of courtship directed toward the large female for that hemiclone line
"DurationL" = the mean mating duration in minutes with large females for that hemiclone line
"DurationS" = the mean mating duration in minutes with small females for that hemiclone line
"PropLFMated" = the proportion of matings that occurred with the large female for males from that hemiclone line
"MatingSuccess" = the proportion of males that successfully mated from that hemiclone line
"DurL/DurS" = the relative extension of mating duration with the large female vs. the small female (i.e. DurationL/DurationS)
"CE" = the mean courtship effort for males that courted from that hemiclone line

Sharing/Access information

Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A

Data was derived from the following sources: N/A

Code/Software

R scripts for models used to estimate heritability.

All analyses performed using R 4.4.1 and the following packages:
lme4 1.1.35.3
MuMIn 1.48.4
Car 3.1.2
pbkrtest 0.5.3

HemicloneMateChoice.R
R code for the following analyses:
*testing for heritability in male courtship preferences using the data in MMCHC_PropL.csv: the binomial GLMM, the confidence interval and p-value calculations, and the h^2 estimates
*testing for heritability in male courtship effort using the data in MMCHC_CE.csv: the binomial GLMMs, the confidence interval and p-value calculations, and the h^2 estimates
*testing for heritability in the size of the female mated using the data in MMCHC_Mating.csv: the binomial GLMM and the confidence intervals
*testing for heritability in mating duration and the relative mating duration extension with large females using the data in MMCHC_Mating.csv: the linear mixed model, the confidence interval and p-value calculations, and the h^2 estimates\
*testing for heritability in mating success using the data in MMCHC_Success.csv: the binomial GLMM, the confidence interval and p-value calculations, and the h^2 estimates

JMP logs for correlations between components of male mate choice

All analysis performed using JMP 18.

** MMCHC_CorrelationsJMPlogs.rtf**
Output logs containing the JMP scripts for the following analyses using the data in MMCHC_Correlations.csv:
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between PropL and PropLFMated (Figure 3a)
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between PropL and DurL/DurS (Figure 3b)
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between PropL and CE (note: this correlation was run twice: with all hemiclone lines included and with the C34 outlier excluded)
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between DurL/DurS and CE (note: this correlation was run twice: with all hemiclone lines included and with the C34 outlier excluded)
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between PropL and MatingSuccess
*the Spearman's rank correlation test between DurL/DurS and MatingSuccess