<p>Haldane’s rule states “when in the F1 offspring of two different animal races one sex is absent, rare, or sterile, that sex is the heterozygous sex”. Many studies regarding hybrid male sterility and in-viability have been done in order to better understand the process of speciation in males. Yet the study of speciation in hybrid females has been largely ignored. In our study we re-examined the extent of fertility in F1 reciprocal females of hybridization between <em>Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana</em> species<em>.</em> Hybridization between these species produces fertile females and sterile males. Our goal was to address the following questions: 1. Are F1 hybrid females fully fertile? 2. Are there any maternal effects observed in reciprocal female hybrids? 3. Are there significant differences in ovariole numbers between the reciprocal hybrids? and 4. What is the state of the hybrid ovaries as a function of age? In order to answer these questions we looked at the level of oviposition and egg hatchability and the differences in ovariole numbers in pure species and F1 females. Our results indicated that the reciprocal hybrid females are not only fully fertile but they also showed heterosis. The heterosis observed in the hybrids can be attributed in part to the presence of maternal effects. The reciprocal hybrids also showed differences in ovariole number compared to each other and to the parental species. Our findings signify the importance of maternal effects as a potentially powerful mechanism for moderating the rates of evolution of speciation in hybrid females.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Corn crop is essential for Brazilian agriculture, due to economic and social importance for the country. Grain yield has been increasing gradually over the years, in part due to genetic gain from selection. The objectives of this work were to evaluate the behavior of some agronomic traits in parents and their single-cross hybrids and reciprocals, and the relationship of these characters with grain yield and plant density; and to study the performance of corn hybrids in high yield environments based upon the analysis of phenotypic adaptability and stability. The first part of the work was conducted in an experimental field in Cruz Alta/RS, during 2010/2011 growing season. Five inbred parents and eight hybrids synthesized from the inbred lines were evaluated. The experiments were carried out in a factorial (genotype x densities x planting dates) in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The evaluations were: plant height, leaf area index, ear index, thousand grain weight, number of grains per ear and grain yield. Heterosis was obtained from the parent s average. In the second part of the work, 48 environments were used to evaluate the grain yield from ten maize hybrids. The hybrid s behavior was studied according to the average yield in poor and/or high-quality environments, the parameters estimates of the discontinuous bi-segmented equation, and the equation adjustment. The plant density was an important management practice to maximize the maize hybrids yield and heterosis estimates showed that the inbreeds have a higher tolerance to increased plant density. The yield potential of hybrids was influenced by the specific combining ability and reciprocal effect was observed for the traits plant height, leaf area index, grain weight, number of grains per ear and grain yield. The reciprocal effect was randomly controlled, sometimes by male or female parent, thus there was not a standard behavior for all traits. If there is no reciprocal effect, we can choose the female parent with higher seeds yield for a particular cross, otherwise, the parent needs to be chosen according to the best specific combination. There was a really good phenotypic stability in single-cross hybrids, with high yield potential. Adaptability and stability characteristics are intrinsic from each hybrid combination. / A cultura do milho tem papel fundamental na agricultura brasileira, devido à importância econômica e social para o país. O rendimento de grãos vem aumentando gradativamente ao longo dos anos, em parte, graças ao melhoramento genético. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar o comportamento de alguns caracteres agronômicos em genitores e em seus híbridos simples e recíprocos e a relação destes caracteres com o rendimento de grãos e a densidade de plantas; e estudar o desempenho de híbridos de milho em ambientes manejados para altos níveis de rendimento, através da análise de adaptabilidade e estabilidade fenotípica. A primeira parte do trabalho foi conduzida em área experimental localizada no município de Cruz Alta/RS, no ano agrícola 2010/2011. Foram estudados cinco genitores endogâmicos e oito híbridos simples sintetizados a partir dos genitores. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em um trifatorial (genótipos x densidades x épocas de semeadura) em blocos completos ao acaso, com quatro repetições. As avaliações realizadas foram: altura média de planta, índice de área foliar, índice de espiga, massa de mil grãos, grãos por espiga e rendimento de grãos. A heterose foi obtida em relação à média dos genitores. Na segunda parte do trabalho, 48 ambientes foram utilizados para a avaliação do rendimento de grãos de dez híbridos de milho. O comportamento dos híbridos foi estudado em função do rendimento médio nos ambientes inferiores e/ou superiores, das estimativas dos parâmetros da equação bi-segmentada descontínua, e da qualidade do ajustamento. A densidade de plantas foi uma prática de manejo muito importante para maximizar o rendimento de híbridos de milho e as estimativas de heterose comprovaram que os genitores possuem uma maior tolerância ao aumento da densidade de plantas do que os híbridos. O potencial de rendimento dos híbridos foi influenciado pela capacidade específica de combinação e houve efeito recíproco para os caracteres altura de planta, índice de área foliar, massa de grãos, grãos por espiga e rendimento de grãos. Dependendo do caráter, o efeito recíproco foi controlado pelo genitor masculino ou pelo feminino, ou seja, não houve um comportamento padrão. Se não houver efeito recíproco, pode-se escolher o genitor feminino de maior rendimento de sementes para um determinado cruzamento, caso contrário, o genitor deve ser escolhido de acordo com a melhor combinação específica. Houve estabilidade fenotípica muito boa em híbridos simples, de alto potencial produtivo. A adaptabilidade e estabilidade são intrínsecas a cada combinação híbrida.

Genotypes of rapeseeds producing yellow seeds were not found in nature. Breeders yellow-seeded rapeseeds have been developed applying different combinations of interspecific crosses. In the Laboratory of Genetics-Biotechnology at the Lithuanian Agricultural University, yellow-seeded spring rapeseeds were developed for the first time without interspecific crosses (Burbulis, 2001). All cultivars of yellow-seeded rapeseed have one essential drawback – unblocking of pigmentation takes place in other generations and seeds of different colours (yellowish brown, brown or black) are formed. Breeders, working with the cultivars of yellow-seeded rapeseed, admit that environmental temperature is one of the factors limiting the manifestation of the trait.