Abstract

Color polymorphisms are widely studied to identify the mechanisms responsible for the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variability in nature. Two of the mechanisms of balancing selection currently thought to explain the long-term persistence of polymorphisms are the evolution of alternative phenotypic optima through correlational selection on suites of traits including color and heterosis. Both of these mechanisms can generate differences in offspring viability and fitness arising from different morph combinations. Here, we examined the effect of parental morph combination on fertilization success, embryonic viability, newborn quality, antipredator, and foraging behavior, as well as inter-annual survival by conducting controlled matings in a polymorphic lacertid Podarcis muralis, where color morphs are frequently assumed to reflect alternative phenotypic optima (e.g., alternative reproductive strategies). Juveniles were kept in outdoor tubs for a year in order to study inter-annual growth, survival, and morph inheritance. In agreement with a previous genome-wide association analysis, morph frequencies in the year-old juveniles matched the frequencies expected if orange and yellow expressions depended on recessive homozygosity at 2 separate loci. Our findings also agree with previous literature reporting higher reproductive output of heavy females and the higher overall viability of heavy newborn lizards, but we found no evidence for the existence of alternative breeding investment strategies in female morphs, or morph-combination effects on offspring viability and behavior. We conclude that inter-morph breeding remains entirely viable and genetic incompatibilities are of little significance for the maintenance of discrete color morphs in P. muralis from the Pyrenees.

中文翻译：

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普通壁蜥 Podarcis uralis 颜色变形交配后代的活力、行为和颜色表达

 抽象的

颜色多态性被广泛研究，以确定自然界中表型变异的起源和维持机制。目前认为可以解释多态性长期存在的两种平衡选择机制是通过对包括颜色和杂种优势在内的性状套件进行相关选择来实现替代表型最佳值的进化。这两种机制都会因不同的形态组合而产生后代生存力和适应性的差异。在这里，我们通过在多态蜥蜴Podarcis muralis中进行受控交配，研究了亲本形态组合对受精成功、胚胎活力、新生儿质量、抗捕食和觅食行为以及年际存活率的影响，其中颜色形态经常被假定反映替代表型最佳值（例如，替代繁殖策略）。为了研究年际生长、存活和形态遗传，幼鱼被放在室外浴缸中一年。与之前的全基因组关联分析一致，如果橙色和黄色表达依赖于两个独立基因座的隐性纯合性，那么一岁幼体的变形频率与预期的频率相匹配。我们的研究结果也与之前的文献一致，即重型雌性蜥蜴的繁殖产量较高，而重型新生蜥蜴的整体生存能力较高，但我们没有发现证据表明雌性变形存在替代育种投资策略，或变形组合对后代生存能力和生存能力的影响。行为。 我们得出的结论是，间变体育种仍然完全可行，并且遗传不相容性对于比利牛斯山脉的P. muralis的离散颜色变体的维持意义不大。