In most Hymenoptera, all fertilized eggs develop into diploid females and all unfertilized eggs into haploid males-a condition known as haplodiploidy. Workers in these colonies share half the alleles they received from their mother, but share all of the alleles they received from their haploid father. What is the average number of alleles shared among sisters? Explain.
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To determine the average number of alleles shared among sisters in hymenopteran colonies, we need to consider the genetic inheritance patterns based on haplodiploidy.
In haplodiploid species, such as most Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes. On the other hand, the males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, meaning they have only one set of chromosomes.
In hymenopteran colonies, the workers are usually sterile females, and they share a special genetic relatedness due to the way they are produced. Let's break down the genetic relatedness step-by-step:
1. Workers inherit half of their alleles from their mother: As workers are females, they receive half of their genetic material from their diploid mother. This implies that, on average, they share 50% of their alleles with their sisters.
2. Workers share all of their alleles from their haploid father: Since males in hymenopteran species are haploid, they only inherit one set of chromosomes from their father. Consequently, all offspring produced by the same father share all of their alleles inherited from him. For example, all sisters within the colony have the same set of alleles inherited from their father.
To calculate the average number of alleles shared among sisters, we take into account the 50% of alleles shared from their mother and the 100% of alleles shared from their father. Since the father's alleles are identical among sisters, they count as a single set of alleles.
Therefore, the average number of alleles shared among sisters in hymenopteran colonies can be determined by adding up the percentage of alleles shared from the mother (50%) with the percentage of alleles shared from the father (100% divided by the number of sisters).
For instance, if there are four sisters in the colony, the calculation would be:
50% (alleles shared from the mother) + 100% / 4 (alleles shared from the father and divided by the number of sisters) = 50% + 25% = 75%.
Hence, in this example, on average, the sisters in the colony share 75% of their alleles.
It is important to note that the actual values will depend on the specific species and colony structure, but this explanation provides a general understanding of how to calculate the average number of alleles shared among sisters in hymenopteran colonies.