Data from: Paternal effects on the expression of a male polyphenism

Polyphenic traits are widespread, but compared to other traits, relatively few studies have explored the mechanisms that influence their inheritance. Here we investigated the relative importance of additive, nonadditive genetic, and parental sources of variation in the expression of polyphenic male dimorphism in the mite Rhizoglyphus echinopus, a species in which males are either fighters or scramblers. We established eight inbred lines through eight generations of full-sibling matings, and then crossed the inbred lines in a partial diallel design. Nymphs were isolated and raised to adulthood with ad libitum food. At adulthood, male morph was recorded for all male offspring. Using a Cockerham-Weir model we found strong paternal effects for this polyphenic trait that could be either linked to the Y chromosome of males or an indirect genetic effect that is environmentally transmitted. In additional analyses we were able to corroborate the paternal effects but also detected significant additive effects questioning the Cockerham-Weir analysis. This study reveals the potential importance of paternal effects on the expression of polyphenic traits and sheds light on the complex genetic architecture of these traits.,Buzatto et al 2012 inbred lines dataThis file contains basic information about the inbred lines used in the partial diallel breeding design used in the article. It contains the average body weight (measured at the quiescent tritonymph stage, in mg), and the average morph ratio of each of the eight inbred lines.Buzatto et al 2012 Partial Diallel dataThis file contains the results of the partial diallel analysis reported in the article. Crosses are between eight inbred lines of the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus echinopus (see design in the article). Each line in the file represents an individual offspring. Variables are the number of the inbred line of the dam and sire of each cross; a letter indicating from which replicate of that specific cross that offspring came from; the offspring morph (response variable in the analysis); the morph of the sire.,