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Males and females usually invest asymmetrically in offspring. In species lacking parental care, females influence offspring in many ways, while males only contribute genetic material via their sperm. For this reason, maternal effects have long been considered an important source of phenotypic variation, while paternal effects have been presumed to be absent or negligible. The recent surge of studies showing trans-generational epigenetic effects questions this assumption, and indicates that paternal effects may be far more important than previously appreciated. Here, we test for sex-linked paternal effects in Drosophila melanogaster on a life-history trait, and find substantial support for both X- and Y-linked effects.

While time difference of arrival (TDOA) information is sufficient to passively solve for the location of a radio frequency transmitter, frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) information may be added to the TDOA information to solve for both the position and velocity of the transmitter. This analysis implements a stochastic discrete event simulation, written in Java, to compare and stochastically describe, under a variety of conditions, the differences between a mixed TDOA/FDOA Multi-platform Global Positioning System (GPS) assisted Geo-location System and that of the same system which uses TDOA information only. The presented analysis compares beth solution types for two- and three-dimensional fixes across: various measurement error distributions and correlation values, sensor network geometry, and sensor platform selection. The simulation results show first order stochastic dominance in the accuracy of the TDOA/FDOA solution in the two-dimensional scenarios. In the three-dimensional scenarios, sensor network to target geometry dominates both solutions' accuracy. While solution accuracy is used as the primary method of effectiveness, the distribution of each solution's uncertainty is also compared. Finally, the simulation itself remains a useful tool for further system design experimentation, performance indication, and as a means to describe system capabilities to the war fighter, http://archive.org/details/comparingtimebas109458113, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Intracellular bacteria of the genus Wolbachia are widespread endosymbionts across diverse insect taxa. Despite this prevalence, our understanding of how Wolbachia persists within populations is not well understood. Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) appears to be an important phenotype maintaining Wolbachia in many insects, but it is believed to be too weak to maintain Wolbachia in Drosophila melanogaster, suggesting that Wolbachia must also have other effects on this species. Here we estimate the net selective effect of Wolbachia on its host in a laboratory-adapted population of D. melanogaster, to determine the mechanisms leading to its persistence in the laboratory environment. We found i) no significant effects of Wolbachia infection on female egg-to-adult survival or adult fitness, ii) no reduced juvenile survival in males, iii) substantial levels of CI, and iv) a vertical transmission rate of Wolbachia higher than 99%. The fitness of cured females was, however, severely reduced (a decline of 37%) due to CI in offspring. Taken together these findings indicate that Wolbachia is maintained in our laboratory environment due to a combination of a nearly perfect transmission rate and substantial CI. Our results show that there would be strong selection against females losing their infection and producing progeny free from Wolbachia.

Background: Diploid organisms have two copies of all genes, but only one is carried by each haploid gamete and diploid offspring. This causes a fundamental genetic conflict over transmission rate between alternative alleles. Single genes, or gene clusters, only rarely code for the complex phenotypes needed to give them a transmission advantage (drive phenotype). However, all genes on a male's X and Y chromosomes co-segregate, allowing different sex-linked genes to code for different parts of the drive phenotype. Correspondingly, the well-characterized phenomenon of male gametic drive, occurring during haploid gametogenesis, is especially common on sex chromosomes. The new theory of sexually antagonistic zygotic drive of the sex chromosomes (SA-zygotic drive) extends the logic of gametic drive into the diploid phase of the lifecycle, whenever there is competition among siblings or harmful sib-sib mating. The X and Y are predicted to gain a transmission advantage by harming offspring of the sex that does not carry them. Results: Here we analyzed a mutant X-chromosome in Drosophila simulans that produced an excess of daughters when transmitted from males. We developed a series of tests to differentiate between gametic and SA-zygotic drive, and provide multiple lines of evidence that SA-zygotic drive is responsible for the sex ratio bias. Driving sires produce about 50% more surviving daughters than sons. Conclusion: Sex-ratio distortion due to genetic conflict has evolved via gametic drive and maternally transmitted endosymbionts. Our data indicate that sex chromosomes can also drive by harming the non-carrier sex of offspring.

We describe a graphical model of interlocus coevolution used to distinguish between the interlocus sexual conflict that leads to sexually antagonistic coevolution, and the intrinsic conflict over mating rate that is an integral part of traditional models of sexual selection. We next distinguish the 'laboratory island' approach from the study of both inbred lines and laboratory populations that are newly derived from nature, discuss why we consider it to be one of the most fitting forms of laboratory analysis to study interlocus sexual conflict, and then describe four experiments using this approach with Drosophila melanogaster. The first experiment evaluates the efficacy of the laboratory model system to study interlocus sexual conflict by comparing remating rates of females when they are, or are not, provided with a spatial refuge from persistent male courtship. The second experiment tests for a lag-load in males that is due to adaptations that have accumulated in females, which diminish male-induced harm while simultaneously interfering with a male's ability to compete in the context of sexual selection. The third and fourth experiments test for a lag-load in females owing to direct costs from their interactions with males, and for the capacity for indirect benefits to compensate for these direct costs. © 2006 The Royal Society.

We describe a graphical model of interlocus coevolution used to distinguish between the interlocus sexual conflict that leads to sexually antagonistic coevolution, and the intrinsic conflict over mating rate that is an integral part of traditional models

While time difference of arrival (TDOA) information is sufficient to passively solve for the location of a radio frequency transmitter, frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) information may be added to the TDOA information to solve for both the position and velocity of the transmitter. This analysis implements a stochastic discrete event simulation, written in Java, to compare and stochastically describe, under a variety of conditions, the differences between a mixed TDOA/FDOA Multi-platform Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geo-location System and that of the same system which uses TDOA information only. The presented analysis compares beth solution types for two- and three-dimensional fixes across: various measurement error distributions and correlation values, sensor network geometry, and sensor platform selection. The simulation results show first order stochastic dominance in the accuracy of the TDOA/FDOA solution in the two-dimensional scenarios. In the three-dimensional scenarios, sensor network to target geometry dominates both solutions' accuracy. While solution accuracy is used as the primary method of effectiveness, the distribution of each solution's uncertainty is also compared. Finally, the simulation itself remains a useful tool for further system design experimentation, performance indication, and as a means to describe system capabilities to the war fighter.

While time difference of arrival (TDOA) information is sufficient to passively solve for the location of a radio frequency transmitter, frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) information may be added to the TDOA information to solve for both the position and velocity of the transmitter. This analysis implements a stochastic discrete event simulation, written in Java, to compare and stochastically describe, under a variety of conditions, the differences between a mixed TDOA/FDOA Multi-platform Global Positioning System (GPS) assisted Geo-location System and that of the same system which uses TDOA information only. The presented analysis compares beth solution types for two- and three-dimensional fixes across: various measurement error distributions and correlation values, sensor network geometry, and sensor platform selection. The simulation results show first order stochastic dominance in the accuracy of the TDOA/FDOA solution in the two-dimensional scenarios. In the three-dimensional scenarios, sensor network to target geometry dominates both solutions' accuracy. While solution accuracy is used as the primary method of effectiveness, the distribution of each solution's uncertainty is also compared. Finally, the simulation itself remains a useful tool for further system design experimentation, performance indication, and as a means to describe system capabilities to the war fighter