Correlated response in male and female sterility to selection for pupa weight in Tribolium castaneum

Summary

The correlated responses in male and female sterility to 50 generations of individual selection for pupa weight in Tribolium were analyzed. Two replicate lines (S-lines) were selected for heavier pupa weight and stabilizing selection for pupa weight was practiced in two replicate control lines (C-lines). There was close agreement between replicates in both sets of lines for direct and correlated responses. The rate of inbreeding has been constant for all lines (approximately 0.5% per generation).

Regression of generation means for pupa weight on generation of selection indicated a significant linear regression in the direct response for both lines. The linear increases of 46 and 55 μg. per generation in the S-lines accounted for 98% of the variation among generations and the linear decreases of 5 and 10 μg. per generation in the C-lines accounted for 70–90% of the variation in the generation means.

Maximum likelihood estimators were used to calculate the frequency of male and female sterility for each generation and line. Average sterility in the base population ranged from about 4 to 12% for both sexes. Polynomial regressions of percent sterility on generation of selection showed that quadratic and higher order regressions were occasionally significant but accounted for a relatively small fraction of the total variation. In the two S-line replicates, linear regression coefficients of percent sterility on generation number were 0.16±.09 and 0.20±.07 for males and 0.72±.08 and 0.54±.08 for females, suggesting a larger correlated response in female than in male sterility. In the C-lines, linear regression coefficients were 0.02±.08 and −.12±.05 for males in the two replicates and −.05±.05 and −.05±.05 for females. Estimates of realized genetic correlations between pupa weight and sterility in the S-lines ranged from 0.04 to 0.14 for males and from 0.14 to 0.37 for females when the heritability of sterility was allowed to take on values from 0.05 to 0.25.