Evolution of Reproductive Efficiency in Caenorhabditis elegans Under Obligatory Outcrossing

Radical shifts in reproductive systems result in radical changes in selective pressures acting on reproductive traits. Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans constitutes one of rare model systems where such shifts can be experimentally induced, providing an opportunity for studying the evolution of reproductive phenotypes in real time. Evolutionary history of predominantly selfing reproduction in has led to degeneration of traits involved outcrossing, making it inefficient. Here, we introduced obligatory outcrossing into isogenic lines of C. elegans and allowed replicate populations to evolve under the new reproductive system. We predicted that they should evolve higher outcrossing efficiency, leading to increased fitness relative to unevolved ancestors. To test this prediction, we assayed fitness of both ancestral and evolved outcrossing populations. To control for the potentially confounding effect of adaptation to laboratory conditions, we also assayed populations with wild-type (selfing) reproductive system. In five experimental blocks, we measured competitive fitness of 12 evolved populations (6 outcrossing, 6 selfing) after ca. 95 generations of evolution, along with their respective ancestors. On average, we found that fitness increased by 0.72 SD (+/- 0.3 CI) in outcrossing and by 0.52 (+/- 0.35 CI) in selfing populations, suggesting further adaptation to laboratory conditions in both types. Contrary to predictions, fitness increase was not significantly higher in outcrossing populations, suggesting no detectable adaptation to the changed reproductive system. Importantly, the results for individual populations varied strongly between experimental blocks, in some cases even differing in effect direction. This emphasises the importance of experimental replication in avoiding reporting false findings.