Assignment of paternity groups without access to parental genotypes: multiple mating and developmental plasticity in...

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Genetics
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Investigating sibling relationships and reconstructing parental genotypes is crucial for understanding population genetics.
• Traditional methods often require numerous genetic markers and make significant assumptions.
• A flexible and robust approach is needed for diverse ecological scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply a novel Bayesian method for assigning paternity and reconstructing parental genotypes.
• To analyze sibling relationships and reproductive success in veined squid (Loligo forbesi).
• To assess the influence of paternity on hatchling traits like incubation time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Bayesian statistical framework to analyze genetic data.
• Employed five microsatellite loci to genotype 270 veined squid hatchlings from three egg strings.
• Reconstructed maternal and paternal genotypes to assign paternity.

Main Results:

• Confirmed a single female produced all three egg strings, fertilized by the same four males.
• Observed unequal fertilization proportions among males, with one male siring the majority of offspring.
• Found no significant effect of paternity on incubation time at 8°C or 12°C, despite temperature's influence.

Conclusions:

• The developed Bayesian method is effective for paternity assignment and genotype reconstruction with minimal assumptions.
• Identified skewed reproductive success among males in the studied veined squid population.
• Demonstrated that paternity does not influence incubation time under tested conditions, highlighting other environmental factors.