Female remating in Drosophila ananassae: bidirectional selection for remating speed

In Drosophila ananassae, artificial selection was carried out for fast and slow remating speed for 10 generations. Response to selection resulted in rapid divergence in remating time in each of two replicates of both fast and slow lines. There were significant differences in mean remating time in females among fast, slow, and control lines. Regression coefficients for both fast and slow lines are significantly different from zero. The realized heritability over 10 generations of selection is from 0.26 to 0.33 for two replicates of fast line and from 0.23 to 0.27 for two replicates of slow line. These findings suggest that female remating time in D. ananassae is under polygenic control. Remating frequency of females showed a correlated response in both fast and slow lines. At generation 10, correlated response to selection was also investigated. Mating propensity of D. ananassae of fast and slow lines was observed in an Elens-Wattiaux mating chamber. Fifteen pairs per test showed that on the average, the fast lines (11.20, 11.60) were more successful in mating than those of slow (6.40, 5.60) and control (8.00) lines. Productivity of once-mated females was measured in terms of number of progeny produced per female and the results of productivity analysis indicate that females of fast lines (157.83, 130.83) produced more progeny compared with slow (72.70, 85.83) and control (109.23) lines.