Search results for "myodes glareolus"
showing 10 items of 50 documents
Data from: Negative frequency-dependent selection of sexually antagonistic alleles in Myodes glareolus
2011
Sexually antagonistic genetic variation, where optimal values of traits are sex-dependent, is known to slow the loss of genetic variance associated with directional selection on fitness-related traits. However, sexual antagonism alone is not sufficient to maintain variation indefinitely. Selection of rare forms within the sexes can help to conserve genotypic diversity. We combined theoretical models and a field experiment with Myodes glareolus to show that negative frequency-dependent selection on male dominance maintains variation in sexually antagonistic alleles. In our experiment, high-dominance male bank voles were found to have low-fecundity sisters, and vice versa. These results show …
Data from: Stabilising selection on microsatellite allele length at arginine vasopressin 1a receptor and oxytocin receptor loci
2017
The loci arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (avpr1a) and oxytocin receptor (oxtr) have evolutionarily conserved roles in vertebrate social and sexual behavior. Allelic variation at a microsatellite locus in the 5’ regulatory region of these genes is associated with fitness in the bank vole Myodes glareolus. Given the low frequency of long and short alleles at these microsatellite loci in wild bank voles, we used breeding trials to determine whether selection acts against long and short alleles. Female bank voles with intermediate length avpr1a alleles had the highest probability of breeding, while male voles whose avpr1a alleles were very different in length had reduced probability of breedin…
The maintenance of sexually antagonistic variation in reproductive success by negative frequency-dependence in the bank vole (Myodes glareolus)
2011
Natural selection theory predicts low variance in traits closely related to reproductive success, since the most fit trait value should replace all the others. However, a considerable amount of variation is found in life-history traits throughout the animal kingdom. The most widely accepted mechanism maintaining this variation is a balance between mutation and selection; however, observed variance is higher than predicted by mutation – selection balance alone and thus additional processes must be involved. One possible mechanism which has only recently started to gain attention is intralocus sexual conflict, where the optima of fitness related traits are sex dependent. This leads to sexuall…
Can number and size of offspring increase simultaneously? – A central life-history trade-off reconsidered
2012
Background: To maximize their fitness, parents are assumed to allocate their resources optimally between number and size of offspring. Although this fundamental life-history trade-off has been subject to long standing interest, its genetic basis, especially in wild mammals, still remains unresolved. One important reason for this problem is that a large multigenerational pedigree is required to conduct a reliable analysis of this trade-off. Results: We used the REML-animal model to estimate genetic parameters for litter size and individual birth size for a common Palearctic small mammal, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Even though a phenotypic trade-off between offspring number and size wa…
Maintenance of genetic diversity in cyclic populations - a longitudinal analysis in Myodes glareolus
2012
Conspicuous cyclic changes in population density characterize many populations of small northern rodents. The extreme crashes in individual number are expected to reduce the amount of genetic variation within a population during the crash phases of the population cycle. By long-term monitoring of a bank vole (Myodes glareolus) population we show that despite the substantial and repetitive crashes in the population size, high heterozygosity is maintained throughout the population cycle. The striking population density fluctuation in fact only slightly reduced the allelic richness of the population during the crash phases. Effective population sizes of vole populations remained also relativel…
Maintenance of genetic diversity in cyclic populations—a longitudinal analysis in Myodes glareolus
2012
Conspicuous cyclic changes in population density characterize many populations of small northern rodents. The extreme crashes in individual number are expected to reduce the amount of genetic variation within a population during the crash phases of the population cycle. By long-term monitoring of a bank vole (Myodes glareolus) population, we show that despite the substantial and repetitive crashes in the population size, high heterozygosity is maintained throughout the population cycle. The striking population density fluctuation in fact only slightly reduced the allelic richness of the population during the crash phases. Effective population sizes of vole populations remained also relative…
Chronic Background Radiation Correlates With Sperm Swimming Endurance in Bank Voles From Chernobyl
2022
Sperm quantity and quality are key features explaining intra- and interspecific variation in male reproductive success. Spermatogenesis is sensitive to ionizing radiation and laboratory studies investigating acute effects of ionizing radiation have indeed found negative effects of radiation on sperm quantity and quality. In nature, levels of natural background radiation vary dramatically, and chronic effects of low-level background radiation exposure on spermatogenesis are poorly understood. The Chernobyl region offers a unique research opportunity for investigating effects of chronic low-level ionizing radiation on reproductive properties of wild organisms. We captured male bank voles (Myo…
Selection on two behavioral genes : fitness effects of receptor genes for arginine vasopressin 1a and oxytocin in the bank vole Myodes glareolus
2017
Most variation in behavior is regulated by genes; nevertheless the mechanisms behind maintenance of genetic diversity at behavioral loci have remained mainly elusive in natural populations. I studied in my thesis selection mechanisms of two genes associated with socio-sexual behavior, arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (Avpr1) and oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) in bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Expression of Avpr1a and Oxtr in specific regions of the brain regulates diverse social and reproductive behaviors such as parental care, aggression, sexual behavior, social recognition as well as pair and parent- offspring bonding in mammals. In addition, there is a link between the length of a regulatory re…
Eco-epidemiology of tick- and rodent-borne pathogens in boreal forests
2017
Infectious diseases are amongst the ten major causes of human mortality worldwide, 60% of them being animal-borne. Variations of abiotic and biotic conditions are likely to modify the transmission of parasites and pathogens within reservoir species, and, as a consequence, alter the zoonotic risk for human. My thesis aims at elucidating the dynamics and mechanisms of the maintenance of ticks, tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) and the Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) in the reservoir host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus, BV). In Northern Europe, tick-borne diseases are growing in importance to human because of the latitudinal expansion of the tick Ixodes ricinus. Field monitoring revealed that I. ricinus…
Early life of fathers affects offspring fitness in a wild rodent
2019
Intergenerational fitness effects on offspring due to the early life of the parent are well studied from the standpoint of the maternal environment, but intergenerational effects owing to the paternal early life environment are often overlooked. Nonetheless, recent laboratory studies in mammals and ecologically relevant studies in invertebrates predict that paternal effects can have a major impact on the offspring's phenotype. These non‐genetic, environment‐dependent paternal effects provide a mechanism for fathers to transmit environmental information to their offspring, and could allow rapid adaptation. We used the bank vole Myodes glareolus, a wild rodent species with no paternal care, t…