Evol Ecol Res 3: 441-447 (2001)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Developmental instability in sexually reproducing and parthenogenetic populations of Bacillus rossius rossius and Bacillus rossius redtenbacheri

C. Pertoldi,¹ V. Scali² and V. Loeschcke¹

¹Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, Building 540, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark and ²Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Sperimentale, Via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy

Address all correspondence to C. Pertoldi, Department of Landscape Ecology, National Environmental Research Institute, Kalø Grenåvej 14, DK-8410 Rønde, Denmark.
e-mail: cpb@dmu.dk

ABSTRACT

Developmental instability, estimated by fluctuating asymmetry and morphological variance, was investigated in sexually reproducing and parthenogenetic populations of Bacillus rossius rossius and Bacillus rossius redtenbacheri. Fluctuating asymmetry was significantly higher in parthenogenetic females than amphigonic females in both sub-species. It was also higher in males and parthenogenetic females of the sub-species redtenbacheri than in males and parthenogenetic females of the sub-species rossius. When we compared fluctuating asymmetry between males and females in amphigonic populations within each sub-species, we found no significant differences with one exception: the antenna showed higher fluctuating asymmetry in males than in females in both sub-species. There was a higher morphological variance in parthenogenetic females of the sub-species rossius than in parthenogenetic females of the sub-species redtenbacheri, whereas no significant differences were found between the amphigonic females of the two sub-species. In both sub-species, there was evidence for higher morphological variance in amphigonic than parthenogenetic females. When Lerner’s conjecture was tested, fluctuating asymmetry was not significantly higher in individuals with a body size more than one standard deviation from the mean of the size distribution.

Keywords: amphigonic reproduction, developmental instability, fluctuating asymmetry, parthenogenetic reproduction.

DOWNLOAD A FREE, FULL PDF COPY
IF you are connected using the IP of a subscribing institution (library, laboratory, etc.)
or through its VPN.

 

        © 2001 C. Pertoldi. All EER articles are copyrighted by their authors. All authors endorse, permit and license Evolutionary Ecology Ltd. to grant its subscribing institutions/libraries the copying privileges specified below without additional consideration or payment to them or to Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. These endorsements, in writing, are on file in the office of Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. Consult authors for permission to use any portion of their work in derivative works, compilations or to distribute their work in any commercial manner.

       Subscribing institutions/libraries may grant individuals the privilege of making a single copy of an EER article for non-commercial educational or non-commercial research purposes. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also use articles for non-commercial educational purposes by making any number of copies for course packs or course reserve collections. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also loan single copies of articles to non-commercial libraries for educational purposes.

       All copies of abstracts and articles must preserve their copyright notice without modification.