[BERG] FW: Reminder: Extra Monday Seminar- Natalie Pilakouta

** Next Monday, May 23 (noon in room 3A142), I am pleased to host Natalie Pilakouta (http://www.nataliepilakouta.com/) from the University of Edinburgh, who will deliver one last seminar for our spring series, titled "Maternal effects alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the offspring” (short abstract below). Natalie is a really engaging speaker, and her research features both fascinating questions (e.g., on the evolution of parental care & inbreeding) and charismatic creatures (who doesn’t love burying beetles?). I will take her for lunch after the seminar, and anyone is welcome to join us (let me know by Monday morning). She is also keen to meet with other Stirling academics during her visit — let me know if you want me to arrange a meeting. Thanks! Luc Maternal effects alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the offspring A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes that the offspring inherit from their mother. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. We tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We found that inbreeding depression was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differences in how small and large females invested in inbred broods because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. This work provides the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. We propose that in natural populations that are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in the magnitude of inbreeding depression and consequently contribute to variation in the strength and direction of selection for inbreeding avoidance.