Similar mating and sperm displacement patterns in two highly divergent D-simulans populations from Africa and Europe

摘要

The frequency of remating in Drosophila melanogaster is affected by both genetic and ecological factors. We studied the remating behaviour in one European (Italy) and one African (Uganda) Drosophila simulans population using six highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. Despite that the populations were genetically distinct (F-ST = 0.18) and originated from very dissimilar ecological settings with different population densities, we inferred a very similar mating pattern. The remating parameter alpha was similar in both populations ((a) over bar = 1.3-1.4). No more than two distinct paternal genotypes per family were detected in each population.