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Temperature-Sensitive Reproduction and the Physiological and Evolutionary Potential for Mother's Curse
Kristi L Montooth1, Abhilesh S Dhawanjewar1, Colin D Meiklejohn1
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1104 T Street, Lincoln, NE 68502, USA.
Integrative and Comparative Biology
|June 8, 2019
Summary
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations can harm male fertility, especially at high temperatures, challenging the "mother's curse" hypothesis. Diet can partially rescue male sterility, suggesting an energetic basis for these sex-specific effects.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- Physiology
Background:
- Strict maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests mutations could accumulate that harm males but not females (mother's curse).
- Direct evidence for sexually antagonistic fitness effects of mtDNA mutations remains limited.
- Sex-specific metabolic demands in different tissues could drive male-specific mutational effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate sex-biased fitness effects of a model mitochondrial-nuclear incompatibility in Drosophila.
- To determine if this incompatibility causes male-specific sterility and identify contributing factors.
- To explore the potential for sex-specific effects of mtDNA mutations in natural populations.
Main Methods:
- Summarized existing findings on a Drosophila mitochondrial-nuclear incompatibility model.
- Presented new data on male fertility under varying temperatures and dietary conditions.
- Discussed the physiological basis of sex-specific metabolic differences and their impact on mitochondrial mutations.
Main Results:
- The model incompatibility showed sex-biased effects, with generally larger negative impacts on females.
- Male fertility was negatively affected by the incompatibility, but only when developed at high temperatures.
- Temperature-dependent male sterility was partially rescued by dietary interventions, indicating an energetic component.
Conclusions:
- The
- The study provides evidence for temperature- and diet-dependent male sterility linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.
- While mother's curse is plausible, only a small fraction of mtDNA mutations may exhibit male-limited fitness effects in natural populations due to environmental and physiological factors.