MEASURES OF PHENOTYPIC SELECTION ARE BIASED BY PARTIAL INBREEDING

When populations are partially inbred due to the population structure or to a mixed mating system like partial self-fertilization, some individuals will be more inbred than others. This heterogeneity among individuals in the history of inbreeding can greatly complicate the interpretation of measures of quantitative genetic variability when the traits studied exhibit inbreeding depression. Partial inbreeding can also bias measures of phenotypic selection toward the detection of strong directional and stabilizing selection. In this paper, data are presented from several inbreeding experiments conducted on two partially selfing, annual populations of the monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus that show that the means of many of the morphological and phenological traits measured were affected by inbreeding. These findings imply that estimates of heritabilities and additive genetic covariances would not reflect the potential for these populations to respond to selection. Phenotypic selection analyses conducted on naturally occurring plants, involving linear regressions of relative seed production on the traits, revealed significant directional selection on many of the same quantitative traits measured in the inbreeding studies. However, when the same selection analyses were performed on plants with known histories of inbreeding, part of the statistical relationship between relative seed number and the traits was found to be due to the mating system: inbred individuals had both lower seed production and different mean values for the traits than outcrossed individuals. It is also shown, with a hypothetical example, that partial inbreeding can bias measures of stabilizing selection toward the detection of strong stabilizing selection. Partial inbreeding therefore tends to make directional and stabilizing selection appear stronger than it is, and it may be that natural selection in the wild is actually weaker than many studies of partially inbred species suggest.     

Population sizes and within-deme movement of Trimerotropis saxatilis (Acrididae), a grasshopper with a fragmented distribution

Capture-mark-recapture studies were initiated in 1990 on four Missouri populations of the lichen grasshopper, Trimerotropis saxatilis. This grasshopper lives only on glade habitat, predominantly in the Ozark Mountains. Genetic data suggest that no gene flow occurs among T. saxatilis populations. Lichen grasshopper population size (both present and historical), and the likelihood of movement within and between glades, are the subjects of this study. Population sizes on all glades were found to be small (<280 individuals) and to vary from year to year. Inbreeding effective sizes were found to be much larger than census sizes. On one of the sites, Graham Cave Glade, population size was calculated for 5 years; in 3 of those years (1991, 1993 and 1994) our studies of this population also tested for movement of T. saxatilis individuals among different regions of the moderately subdivided glade. Maintenance of Graham Cave Glade (burning and clearing) was initiated after the 1991 capture-mark-recapture season. Comparisons of before-and after-burning intraglade movement probabilities did not show a significant difference. Grasshoppers more frequently remained in the part of the glade where they were previously captured, but were able to move about the moderately subdivided glade. The presence of a closed-canopy forest, rather than distance, appears to be an effective dispersal barrier.     

Effects of founder population size on the performance of Orius laevigatus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) colonies

Orius laevigatus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) is a key predator of thrips and is mass reared in large numbers for use in biological control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of founder population size on the biological and behavioral performance of O. laevigatus over time. Laboratory lines were started from 1, 10 and 50 founder couples from 750 adults collected in the field and their performance was evaluated at the 5th–6th and 10th–11th generations. Adaptation to the captive rearing situation occurred in the 10 and 50 founder couples lines while it failed in the 1 founder couple line. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r_m) increased and the period for doubling the population (D) decreased over the generations in the 10 and 50 founder couples lines, while (r_m) decreased and (D) increase in the 1 founder couple line. Also, consumption of Frankliniella occidentalis prey was significantly lower for females from the 1 founder couple line at the 5th generation compared to females from the 10 and 50 founder couples lines. Females of laboratory lines of all founder couples did not respond to odours from thrips infested plants during the 5th and 10th generations, whereas wild females strongly reacted to these odours. We suggest that the lack of reaction to infested plant volatiles may be due to the artificial rearing method where mass reared predators do not experience an infested crop. The results showed that the 1 founder couple line differed from the 10 and 50 founder couples lines, suggesting that bottlenecking had an effect at that level. However, no difference was found between the 10 and 50 founder couples lines which suggest that these founder numbers can be used to start laboratory-reared O. laevigatus lines without a significant loss in quality of its relevant biological characteristics.     

Inbreeding coefficients in six species of Ainsliaea and two species of Pertya (Asteraceae)

As a basis for comparative studies of mating systems, we estimated genetic diversities and inbreeding coefficients for six perennial species of Ainsliaea and two shrubby species of Pertya (Asteraceae). These related species are known to vary from frequent cleistogamy to xenogamy by bumblebee pollination, and we examined allozyme variation in these species to describe mating system variation in further detail. Significant heterozygote deficit was found in five species, while no heterozygote deficit was found in three species. A cleistogamous species showed no genetic polymorphism. Multilocus average of inbreeding coefficients among seven species ranged from –0.12 to 0.78. These findings indicated that related species can vary from predominant selfers to predominant outcrossers under perennial life cycles.     

Effects of self-fertilization on growth and survival of larvae and juveniles of the scallop Argopecten purpuratus L.

Argopecten purpuratus Lamarck (1819) is a functional hermaphrodite that releases successively male and female gametes during their spawning process. Because the short period between the release of both kind of gametes, the chance of self-fertilization exists, even in natural conditions. The self-fertilization rate was quantified in 10 scallops as the proportion of spontaneous (nonartificially fertilized) cleaving eggs. The existence of inbreeding depression was tested comparing families produced by self- and cross-fertilization. An average of 9.9% of spontaneous self-fertilization was detected. No differences in survival or growth in either larvae or juvenile were found between families produced by self-fertilization and pair mating.     

Trait mean depression for second-generation inbred strawberry populations with and without parent selection

 Strawberry genotypes selected for superior fruit yield or chosen at random from first-generation self, full-sib, and half-sib populations were crossed to provide second-generation inbred progenies and composite cross-fertilized control populations. Mean yields for inbred offspring from crosses among selected parents exceeded those from the offspring of unselected parents by 87%, 23%, and 37% for self, full-sib, and half-sib populations, respectively; yields for offspring from unrelated crosses among selected parents were 54% larger than those for crosses among unselected parents. Selection for yield also resulted in significant correlated response for fruit number and plant diameter. Mean yields for second-generation half-sib and full-sib offspring from selected parents were greater than those for offspring from the unselected but non-inbred control population. This suggests that selection can be a powerful force in counteracting most of the inbreeding depression expected in cross-fertilized strawberry breeding programs. Selection treatment× inbreeding rate interactions were non-significant for all traits; thus, selection among partially inbred offspring did not have a large effect on the rate of genetic progress. Differential realized selection intensity among individuals with differing levels of homozygosity accumulated due to inbreeding is suggested as the most likely explanation for the absence of association between pedigree inbreeding coefficients and cross performance detected previously in strawberry. Received: 21 July 1996 / Accepted: 7 March 1997     

Consequences of inbreeding for the cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.)(Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Inbreeding is said to reduce vigour and fitness. It may also determine how a population responds to selection. Local populations of Callosobruchus maculatus , the cowpea seed beetle, are established annually from small numbers of founders and the species has been distributed to many parts of the world where isolated populations may have been founded by very small numbers of individuals. After more than 20 generations of inbreeding, inbred lines have been shown to diverge from a common ancestral stock in similar directions with respect of some variables such as developmental speed, but haphazardly in respect of other parameters such as male weight. The respective roles of drift and of selection as effective evolutionary forces in inbred lines are discussed in the light of these results. It is argued that some intraspecific differences in C. maculatus may be explained as a product of periodic inbreeding, but that the process does not impair the ability to adapt to local conditions so contributing to the status of the species as a pest of international importance.     

Methods for predicting rates of inbreeding in selected populations

Summary In selected populations, families superior for the selected trait are likely to contribute more offspring to the next generation than inferior families and, as a consequence, the rate of inbreeding is likely to be higher in selected populations than in randomly mated populations of the same structure. Methods to predict rates of inbreeding in selected populations are discussed. The method of Burrows based on probabilities of coselection is reappraised in conjunction with the transition matrix method of Woolliams. The method of Latter based on variances and covariances of family size is also examined. These methods are one-generation approaches in the sense that they only account for selective advantage over a single generation, from parents to offspring. Two-generation methods are developed that account for selective advantage over two generations, from grandparent to grandoffspring as well as from parent to offspring. Predictions are compared to results from simulation. The best one-generation method was found to underpredict rates of inbreeding by 10–25%, and the two-generation methods were found to underpredict rates of inbreeding by 9–18%.     

自交选育秀珍菇新菌株“申秀1号”

【目的】对自交子代群体主要栽培和商品性状进行综合分析,并选育综合性状优良的秀珍菇新菌株。【方法】以秀珍菇商业菌株“3108”为亲本进行自交,综合分析其自交子代群体的菌丝生长速度、产量、菇型、抗杂、抗逆性和栽培周期等性状以选育新菌株,利用ISSR (Inter-sample sequence repeat)鉴定新菌株和亲本菌株之间遗传差异性。【结果】自交子代中,菌丝生长速度和产量分别有19.5%和8.9%的菌株优于亲本;子代群体中菌丝生长速度和子实体产量之间无相关性(R=0.102,P>0.05);37%的菌株栽培周期比亲本短;菇盖平展、厚且不易碎分别占53%、11%,菌柄直径和长度变化幅度分别为5?13 mm和21?75 mm;发生黄枯病,出现萎缩、死菇现象以及畸形分别占23%、19%、5%。【结论】通过对子代群体各性状综合分析,从中选育出生长快、产量高、菇盖厚且不易碎、柄粗长、抗杂和抗逆性强、栽培周期短等优良性状的秀珍菇新菌株“申秀1号”,前三潮菇平均单袋产量334 g,生物学效率高达74%,比亲本菌株增产7.1%,且种性稳定。经ISSR鉴定表明,该菌株具有自身特异性。