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Outbred embryos rescue inbred half-siblings in mixed-paternity broods of live-bearing females

Nature volume 439, pages 201–203 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Females commonly mate with more than one male1, and polyandry has been shown to increase reproductive success in many species2,3,4. Insemination by multiple males shifts the arena for sexual selection from the external environment to the female reproductive tract, where sperm competition or female choice of sperm could bias fertilization against sperm from genetically inferior5 or genetically incompatible males6,7. Evidence that polyandry can be a strategy for avoiding incompatibility comes from studies showing that inbreeding cost is reduced in some egg-laying species by postcopulatory mechanisms that favour fertilization by sperm from unrelated males8,9,10. In viviparous (live-bearing) species, inbreeding not only reduces offspring genetic quality but might also disrupt feto-maternal interactions that are crucial for normal embryonic development11,12,13. Here we show that polyandry in viviparous pseudoscorpions reduces inbreeding cost not through paternity-biasing mechanisms favouring outbred offspring, but rather because outbred embryos exert a rescuing effect on inbred half-siblings in mixed-paternity broods. The benefits of polyandry may thus be more complex for live-bearing females than for females that lay eggs.

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Figure 1: Effect of mating treatment on brood production.
Figure 2: Number of nymphs born versus proportion outbred in successful NS and SN broods.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Bonilla and S. Trimmer for assistance; K. Panter for discussion; the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for logistical support; and La Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente for permission to collect in Panama. This research was supported by grants from the US National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Author Contributions J.A.Z. designed the study, carried out the mating and rearing experiments, and took the primary role in writing the paper. D.W.Z. performed the molecular and statistical analyses.

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  1. Department of Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Nevada, 89557, Reno, USA

    Jeanne A. Zeh & David W. Zeh

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Correspondence to Jeanne A. Zeh.

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Zeh, J., Zeh, D. Outbred embryos rescue inbred half-siblings in mixed-paternity broods of live-bearing females. Nature 439, 201–203 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04260

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