The purging of deleterious mutations in simple and complex mating environments

Abstract

There is a general expectation that sexual selection should align with natural selection to aid the purging of deleterious mutations, yet experiments comparing purging under monogamy versus polygamy have provided mixed results. Recent studies suggest that this may be because the simplified mating environments used in these studies reduce the benefit of sexual selection through males and hamper natural selection through females by increasing costs associated with sexual conflict. To test the effect of the physical mating environment on purging, we use experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster to track the frequency of four separate deleterious mutations in replicate populations that experience polygamy under either a simple or structurally complex mating arena while controlling for arena size. Consistent with past results suggesting a greater net benefit of polygamy in a complex environment, two of the mutations were purged significantly faster in this environment. The other two mutations showed no significant difference between environments.