Garlovsky Martin D, Dobler Ralph, Guo Ruijian, Voigt Susanne, Dowling Damian K, Reinhardt Klaus
Applied Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Evolution. 2025 Sep 12;79(8):1568-1582. doi: 10.1093/evolut/qpaf096.
The need for efficient ATP production is predicted to result in the evolution of cooperation between the mitochondrial and nuclear encoded components of the electron transport system. Genotypes where mitochondrial and nuclear genomes from different geographic populations are combined (mismatched) are therefore predicted to result in negative fitness consequences. Such negative fitness effects are expected to be prominent in males, since maternal inheritance of mitochondria can lead to accumulation of male-harming mutations (the mother's curse hypothesis), and they may become more prevalent with aging. To test these predictions, we measured fertility traits of females and males at different ages using a genetically diverse panel of 27 mitonuclear populations of Drosophila melanogaster with matched or experimentally mismatched mitonuclear genomes. We found no evidence that novel mitonuclear combinations had reduced fitness in females. In males, we found limited evidence of mitonuclear interactions affecting fitness in old age, however, not in the direction predicted. Novel mitonuclear combinations were associated with males that sired more offspring. Sex-specific advantages of mismatched males might arise if novel nuclear alleles compensate for deleterious mitochondrial alleles that have accumulated. If such compensatory effects of novel mitonuclear combinations increasing fitness occur in nature, they could represent a possible counterforce to the mother's curse.
高效产生三磷酸腺苷（ATP）的需求预计会导致电子传递系统中线粒体编码成分与核编码成分之间的合作进化。因此，来自不同地理种群的线粒体和核基因组组合（不匹配）的基因型预计会导致负面的适应性后果。这种负面的适应性影响预计在雄性中更为突出，因为线粒体的母系遗传会导致有害雄性的突变积累（“母亲的诅咒”假说），并且随着年龄增长可能会变得更加普遍。为了验证这些预测，我们使用由27个具有匹配或实验性不匹配的线粒体-核基因组的黑腹果蝇线粒体-核种群组成的基因多样化面板，测量了不同年龄雌性和雄性的繁殖性状。我们没有发现新的线粒体-核组合会降低雌性适应性的证据。在雄性中，我们发现有限的证据表明线粒体-核相互作用会影响老年时的适应性，然而，并非朝着预测的方向。新的线粒体-核组合与生育更多后代的雄性有关。如果新的核等位基因能够补偿积累的有害线粒体等位基因，那么不匹配雄性的性别特异性优势可能就会出现。如果新的线粒体-核组合增加适应性的这种补偿效应在自然界中发生，它们可能代表了对抗“母亲的诅咒”的一种可能的反作用力。
