title: Mother's mitochondria and optimal offspring sex ratio.
abstract: In certain cases, predicted by evolutionary theory of sex-allocation and confirmed by empirical evidence, animals adaptively change their progeny sex-ratio according to individual circumstances. Here we argue that a similar response of offspring sex-ratio must exist in relation to genetic variation of mothers' mitochondria, as a consequence of maternal inheritance of these organelles and of their influence on fitness resulting from their crucial role in metabolism. In fact, a mathematical analysis of evolutionary dynamics of sex-allocation mutants demonstrates that natural selection promotes an evolutionarily stable allocation policy where mothers with defective mitochondria generate only sons, while those with optimal mitochondria have female biased progenies.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Genetica Molecolare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Abbiategrasso 207, 27100, Pavia, Italy. matessi@igm.cnr.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matessi
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics; D012744:Sex Ratio