Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085, USA.
Evolution. 2010 May;64(5):1267-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00910.x. Epub 2009 Nov 26.
Female preference genes for large males in the highly promiscuous moth Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) have previously been shown to be mostly Z-linked, in accordance with the hypothesis that ZZ-ZW sex chromosome systems should facilitate Fisherian sexual selection. We determined the heritability of both female and male promiscuity in the highly promiscuous moth U. ornatrix (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) through parent-offspring and grandparent-offspring regression analyses. Our data show that male promiscuity is not sex-limited and either autosomal or sex-linked whereas female promiscuity is primarily determined by sex-limited, Z-linked genes. These data are consistent with the "sexy-sperm hypothesis," which posits that multiple-mating and sperm competitiveness coevolve through a Fisherian-like process in which female promiscuity is a kind of mate choice in which sperm-competitiveness is the trait favored in males. Such a Fisherian process should also be more potent when female preferences are Z-linked and sex-limited than when autosomal or not limited.
先前的研究表明，在高度滥交的 U. ornatrix 飞蛾（鳞翅目：天蛾科）中，雌性对大型雄性的偏好基因主要是 Z 连锁的，这符合 ZZ-ZW 性染色体系统应促进费希尔性选择的假设。我们通过亲子和祖孙回归分析，确定了高度滥交的 U. ornatrix 飞蛾（鳞翅目：天蛾科）中雌性和雄性滥交的遗传力。我们的数据表明，雄性滥交不受性别限制，是常染色体或性连锁的，而雌性滥交主要由性别限制的 Z 连锁基因决定。这些数据与“性感精子假说”一致，该假说认为，多交配和精子竞争力通过一种类似于费希尔的过程共同进化，其中雌性滥交是一种雄性中精子竞争力受到青睐的配偶选择。当雌性偏好是 Z 连锁和性别限制时，这种费希尔过程应该比常染色体或不受限制时更有效。
