Temperature-Specific and Sex-Specific Fitness Effects of Sympatric Mitochondrial and Mito-Nuclear Variation in <i>Drosophila obscura</i>
Pavle Erić,
Aleksandra Patenković,
Katarina Erić,
Marija Tanasković,
Slobodan Davidović,
Mina Rakić,
Marija Savić Veselinović,
Marina Stamenković-Radak,
Mihailo Jelić
Affiliations
Pavle Erić
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Aleksandra Patenković
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Katarina Erić
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Marija Tanasković
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Slobodan Davidović
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Mina Rakić
Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia
Marija Savić Veselinović
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Marina Stamenković-Radak
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Mihailo Jelić
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
The adaptive significance of sympatric mitochondrial (mtDNA) variation and the role of selective mechanisms that maintain it are debated to this day. Isofemale lines of Drosophila obscura collected from four populations were backcrossed within populations to construct experimental lines, with all combinations of mtDNA Cyt b haplotypes and nuclear genetic backgrounds (nuDNA). Individuals of both sexes from these lines were then subjected to four fitness assays (desiccation resistance, developmental time, egg-to-adult viability and sex ratio) on two experimental temperatures to examine the role of temperature fluctuations and sex-specific selection, as well as the part that interactions between the two genomes play in shaping mtDNA variation. The results varied across populations and fitness components. In the majority of comparisons, they show that sympatric mitochondrial variants affect fitness. However, their effect should be examined in light of interactions with nuDNA, as mito-nuclear genotype was even more influential on fitness across all components. We found both sex-specific and temperature-specific differences in mitochondrial and mito-nuclear genotype ranks in all fitness components. The effect of temperature-specific selection was found to be more prominent, especially in desiccation resistance. From the results of different components tested, we can also infer that temperature-specific mito-nuclear interactions rather than sex-specific selection on mito-nuclear genotypes have a more substantial role in preserving mtDNA variation in this model species.
