Did you know that offspring could
have traits that resemble a mother’s previous sexual partner rather than the
actual father? Yes, this is true- at least in flies. Recently, Australian researchers have
conducted a new study where they manipulated the size of male flies and studied
their offspring. Shockingly, it was found that the size of the offspring
depended on the male that the mother first mated with rather than the male that
actually sired the offspring. Apparently, this effect is due to the molecules
in the seminal fluid of the first mate being absorbed by the female’s immature
eggs. This goes on to impact the growth of the forthcoming offspring, though
the father is different.
“Our discovery complicates our
entire view of how variation is transmitted across generations but also opens
up exciting new possibilities and avenues of research. Just as we think we have
things figured out, nature throws us a curve ball and show us how much we still
have to learn,” says Angela Crean of the University of New South Wales in
Australia. During this new study, the researched raised both large and small
flies by either giving them diets consisting of either high or low nutrition.
From there, the female was mated with either of the two flies, then, once
matured, were mated again with either of the two males and their offspring were
examined. It was found that the offspring size was determined by what the
mother’s earlier mating partner ate as a maggot, rather than being determined
by the second male that actually was responsible for the offspring.
I find it very interesting that trait
inheritance has been studied for a long time now, the field of genetics has in
itself become increasing advanced through the years and it is still not
completely clear. It is amazing that though not responsible for the children, a
male can still be responsible for the children’s phenotypes. It will certainly
be interesting to find out if this can be said for other species.
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