Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects

HFCs (heterozygosity–fitness correlations) measure the direct relationship between an individual's genetic diversity and fitness. The effects of parental heterozygosity and the environment on HFCs are currently under-researched. We investigated these in a high-density U.K. population of Europea...

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Main Authors: Annavi, Geetha, Newman, Christopher, Buesching, Christina D., Macdonald, David W., Burke, Terry, Dugdale, Hannah L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: John Wiley & Sons 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37854/1/Heterozygosity%E2%80%93fitness%20correlations%20in%20a%20wild%20mammal.pdf
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author Annavi, Geetha
Newman, Christopher
Buesching, Christina D.
Macdonald, David W.
Burke, Terry
Dugdale, Hannah L.
author_facet Annavi, Geetha
Newman, Christopher
Buesching, Christina D.
Macdonald, David W.
Burke, Terry
Dugdale, Hannah L.
author_sort Annavi, Geetha
collection UPM
description HFCs (heterozygosity–fitness correlations) measure the direct relationship between an individual's genetic diversity and fitness. The effects of parental heterozygosity and the environment on HFCs are currently under-researched. We investigated these in a high-density U.K. population of European badgers (Meles meles), using a multimodel capture–mark–recapture framework and 35 microsatellite loci. We detected interannual variation in first-year, but not adult, survival probability. Adult females had higher annual survival probabilities than adult males. Cubs with more heterozygous fathers had higher first-year survival, but only in wetter summers; there was no relationship with individual or maternal heterozygosity. Moist soil conditions enhance badger food supply (earthworms), improving survival. In dryer years, higher indiscriminate mortality rates appear to mask differential heterozygosity-related survival effects. This paternal interaction was significant in the most supported model; however, the model-averaged estimate had a relative importance of 0.50 and overlapped zero slightly. First-year survival probabilities were not correlated with the inbreeding coefficient (f); however, small sample sizes limited the power to detect inbreeding depression. Correlations between individual heterozygosity and inbreeding were weak, in line with published meta-analyses showing that HFCs tend to be weak. We found support for general rather than local heterozygosity effects on first-year survival probability, and g2 indicated that our markers had power to detect inbreeding. We emphasize the importance of assessing how environmental stressors can influence the magnitude and direction of HFCs and of considering how parental genetic diversity can affect fitness-related traits, which could play an important role in the evolution of mate choice.
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spelling upm.eprints-378542016-04-21T04:23:49Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37854/ Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects Annavi, Geetha Newman, Christopher Buesching, Christina D. Macdonald, David W. Burke, Terry Dugdale, Hannah L. HFCs (heterozygosity–fitness correlations) measure the direct relationship between an individual's genetic diversity and fitness. The effects of parental heterozygosity and the environment on HFCs are currently under-researched. We investigated these in a high-density U.K. population of European badgers (Meles meles), using a multimodel capture–mark–recapture framework and 35 microsatellite loci. We detected interannual variation in first-year, but not adult, survival probability. Adult females had higher annual survival probabilities than adult males. Cubs with more heterozygous fathers had higher first-year survival, but only in wetter summers; there was no relationship with individual or maternal heterozygosity. Moist soil conditions enhance badger food supply (earthworms), improving survival. In dryer years, higher indiscriminate mortality rates appear to mask differential heterozygosity-related survival effects. This paternal interaction was significant in the most supported model; however, the model-averaged estimate had a relative importance of 0.50 and overlapped zero slightly. First-year survival probabilities were not correlated with the inbreeding coefficient (f); however, small sample sizes limited the power to detect inbreeding depression. Correlations between individual heterozygosity and inbreeding were weak, in line with published meta-analyses showing that HFCs tend to be weak. We found support for general rather than local heterozygosity effects on first-year survival probability, and g2 indicated that our markers had power to detect inbreeding. We emphasize the importance of assessing how environmental stressors can influence the magnitude and direction of HFCs and of considering how parental genetic diversity can affect fitness-related traits, which could play an important role in the evolution of mate choice. John Wiley & Sons 2014-06 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37854/1/Heterozygosity%E2%80%93fitness%20correlations%20in%20a%20wild%20mammal.pdf Annavi, Geetha and Newman, Christopher and Buesching, Christina D. and Macdonald, David W. and Burke, Terry and Dugdale, Hannah L. (2014) Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects. Ecology and Evolution, 4 (12). pp. 2594-2609. ISSN 2045-7758 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/ece3.1112/abstract 10.1002/ece3.1112
spellingShingle Annavi, Geetha
Newman, Christopher
Buesching, Christina D.
Macdonald, David W.
Burke, Terry
Dugdale, Hannah L.
Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title_full Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title_fullStr Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title_full_unstemmed Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title_short Heterozygosity-fitness correlations in a wild mammal population: accounting for parental and environmental effects
title_sort heterozygosity fitness correlations in a wild mammal population accounting for parental and environmental effects
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37854/1/Heterozygosity%E2%80%93fitness%20correlations%20in%20a%20wild%20mammal.pdf
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