TY - JOUR
T1 - Reproductive fitness and artificial selection in animal breeding
T2 - culling on fitness prevents a decline in reproductive fitness in lines of Drosophila melanogaster selected for increased inebriation time
AU - Frankham, R.
AU - Yoo, B. H.
AU - Sheldon, B. L.
PY - 1988/12
Y1 - 1988/12
N2 - The maintenance of reproductive fitness in lines subjected to artificial selection is one of the major problems in animal breeding. The decline in reproductive performance has neither been predictable from heritabilities and genetic correlations, nor have conventional selection indices been adequate to avoid the problem. Gowe (1983) has suggested that the heritabilities of reproductive traits are non-linear, with heritabilities being higher on the lower fitness side. Consequently, he has predicted that culling on reproductive fitness in artificial selection lines will be effective in preventing the usual declines in fitness. An experimental evaluation of Gowe's prediction has been carried out by comparing fitnesses of replicated lines of three treatments: selection for increased inebriation time without culling on fitness (HO), selection for inebriation time with culling of 20% (4/20) of selected females on reproductive fitness (HS), and unselected controls (C). Response to selection for inebriation time in the two selection treatments was similar. After 25 generations, the competitive index, a measure of reproductive fitness, was significantly lower in the HO treatment than the HS treatment, while the HS treatment did not differ from the control lines or the base population. These results demonstrate for the first time that culling on reproductive fitness in selection lines can be used to prevent the usual decline in reproductive performance.
AB - The maintenance of reproductive fitness in lines subjected to artificial selection is one of the major problems in animal breeding. The decline in reproductive performance has neither been predictable from heritabilities and genetic correlations, nor have conventional selection indices been adequate to avoid the problem. Gowe (1983) has suggested that the heritabilities of reproductive traits are non-linear, with heritabilities being higher on the lower fitness side. Consequently, he has predicted that culling on reproductive fitness in artificial selection lines will be effective in preventing the usual declines in fitness. An experimental evaluation of Gowe's prediction has been carried out by comparing fitnesses of replicated lines of three treatments: selection for increased inebriation time without culling on fitness (HO), selection for inebriation time with culling of 20% (4/20) of selected females on reproductive fitness (HS), and unselected controls (C). Response to selection for inebriation time in the two selection treatments was similar. After 25 generations, the competitive index, a measure of reproductive fitness, was significantly lower in the HO treatment than the HS treatment, while the HS treatment did not differ from the control lines or the base population. These results demonstrate for the first time that culling on reproductive fitness in selection lines can be used to prevent the usual decline in reproductive performance.
KW - Artificial selection
KW - Drosophila melanogaster
KW - Ethanol tolerance
KW - Quantitative character
KW - Reproductive fitness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0000151236&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/BF00273680
DO - 10.1007/BF00273680
M3 - Article
C2 - 24232403
AN - SCOPUS:0000151236
SN - 0040-5752
VL - 76
SP - 909
EP - 914
JO - Theoretical and Applied Genetics
JF - Theoretical and Applied Genetics
IS - 6
ER -