scholarly journals The Potential Role of Sexual Conflict and Sexual Selection in Shaping the Genomic Distribution of Mito-nuclear Genes

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1096-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Dean ◽  
F. Zimmer ◽  
J. E. Mank
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Nuclear Genes ◽  
Genomic Distribution

Male terminalia morphology of sixteen species of the Drosophila saltans group Sturtevant (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5061 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-544
Author(s):  
BRUNA EMILIA ROMAN ◽  
LILIAN MADI-RAVAZZI
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sibling Species ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Variable Structure ◽  
Diagnostic Feature ◽  
Internal Fertilization ◽  
Saltans Group

Male terminalia in insects with internal fertilization evolve more rapidly than other structures. The aedeagus is the most variable structure, making it a valuable diagnostic feature to distinguish species. The saltans group Sturtevant of Drosophila Fallén contains sibling species, that can be distinguished by their aedeagi. Here, we revised and illustrated the morphology of the male terminalia of the following species: Drosophila prosaltans Duda, 1927; D. saltans Sturtevant, 1916; D. lusaltans Magalhães, 1962; D. austrosaltans Spassky, 1957; D. septentriosaltans Magalhães, 1962; D. nigrosaltans Magalhães, 1962; D. pseudosaltans Magalhães, 1956; D. sturtevanti Duda, 1927; D. lehrmanae Madi-Ravazzi et al., 2021; D. dacunhai Mourão & Bicudo, 1967; D. milleri Magalhães, 1962; D. parasaltans Magalhães, 1956; D. emarginata Sturtevant, 1942; D. neoelliptica Pavan & Magalhães in Pavan, 1950; D. neosaltans Pavan & Magalhães in Pavan, 1950 and D. neocordata Magalhães, 1956. We found that phallic structures (e.g., the aedeagus) evolve more rapidly than periphallic structures (e.g., epandrium), being completely different among the subgroups and within them. This rapid evolution may be due to the action of sexual selection or to the potential role of those structures in speciation.  

Broad-sense sexual selection, sex gene pool evolution, and speciation

Genome ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1033-1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Civetta ◽  
R S Singh
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Secondary Sexual Traits ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
Sexual Conflicts ◽  
Sexual Traits

Studies of sexual selection have traditionally focused on explaining the extreme sexual dimorphism in male secondary sexual traits and elaborate mating behaviors displayed by males during courtship. In recent years, two aspects of sexual selection have received considerable attention in the literature: an extension of the sexual selection concept to other traits (i.e., postcopulatory behaviors, external and internal genital morphology, gametes, molecules), and alternative mechanistic explanations of the sexual selection process (i.e., coevolutionary runaway, good-genes, sexual conflicts). This article focuses on the need for an extension of sexual selection as a mechanism of change for courtship and (or) mating male characters (i.e., narrow-sense sexual selection) to all components of sexuality not necessarily related to courtship or mating (i.e., broad-sense sexual selection). We bring together evidence from a wide variety of organisms to show that sex-related genes evolve at a fast rate, and discuss the potential role of broad-sense sexual selection as an alternative to models that limit speciation to strict demographic conditions or treat it simply as an epiphenomenon of adaptive evolution.Key words: sexual selection, sex-related genes, speciation.

scholarly journals It is not always about body size: evidence of Rensch's rule in a male weapon

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 20210234
Author(s):  
Glauco Machado ◽  
Bruno A. Buzatto ◽  
Diogo S. M. Samia
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Condition Dependence ◽  
Rensch’S Rule ◽  
Evolutionary Pattern ◽  
Rensch's Rule ◽  
Original Proposal

In many species, sexual dimorphism increases with body size when males are the larger sex but decreases when females are the larger sex, a macro-evolutionary pattern known as Rensch's rule (RR). Although empirical studies usually focus exclusively on body size, Rensch's original proposal included sexual differences in other traits, such as ornaments and weapons. Here, we used a clade of harvestmen to investigate whether two traits follow RR: body size and length of the fourth pair of legs (legs IV), which are used as weapons in male–male fights. We found that males were slightly smaller than females and body size did not follow RR, whereas legs IV were much longer in males and followed RR. We propose that sexual selection might be stronger on legs IV length than on body size in males, and we discuss the potential role of condition dependence in the emergence of RR.

scholarly journals Extremely rapid development and early reproduction reduces sexual selection in D. melanogaster populations.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avani Mital ◽  
Manaswini Sarangi ◽  
Bodhisatta Nandy ◽  
Neha Pandey ◽  
Amitabh Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Direct Selection ◽  
Reproductive Competition ◽  
Short Development Time ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Selection For

The role of sexual selection in mediating levels of sexual conflict has been demonstrated in a number of experimental evolution studies on Drosophila sp. where the level of competition among males for fertilization success was under direct selection. Here we report that selection for a short development time and early age at reproduction can lead to inadvertent changes in levels of sexual selection in D. melanogaster populations, affecting reproductive competition experienced by males. We demonstrate that faster developing and early reproducing populations showed very low levels of mating in their lifetime (likely being monogamous), low courtship levels, shorter copulation duration and longer maturation time, compared to their ancestral controls. We discuss these results in light of the previously demonstrated reduction of sexual conflict in these populations.

scholarly journals Reproductive Mode and Conflict Shape the Evolution of Male Attributes and Rate of Speciation in the Fish Family Poeciliidae

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Reznick ◽  
Joseph Travis ◽  
Bart J. A. Pollux ◽  
Andrew I. Furness
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
Fish Family ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
The Family ◽  
Maternal Provisioning ◽  
Functional Equivalent ◽  
Selection For

Sexual conflict is caused by differences between the sexes in how fitness is maximized. These differences are shaped by the discrepancy in the investment in gametes, how mates are chosen and how embryos and young are provided for. Fish in the family Poeciliidae vary from completely provisioning eggs before they are fertilized to providing virtually all resources after fertilization via the functional equivalent of a mammalian placenta. This shift in when females provision their young relative to when an egg is fertilized is predicted to cause a fundamental change in when and how sexual conflict is manifested. If eggs are provisioned before fertilization, there should be strong selection for females to choose with whom they mate. Maternal provisioning after fertilization should promote a shift to post-copulatory mate choice. The evolution of maternal provisioning may in turn have cascading effects on the evolution of diverse features of the biology of these fish because of this shift in when mates are chosen. Here we summarize what these consequences are and show that the evolution of maternal provisioning is indeed associated with and appears to govern the evolution of male traits associated with sexual selection. The evolution of placentas and associated conflict does not cause accelerated speciation, contrary to predictions. Accelerated speciation rate is instead correlated with the evolution of male traits associated with sexual selection, which implies a more prominent role of pre-copulatory reproductive isolation in causing speciation in this family.

scholarly journals Are flies kind to kin? The role of intra- and inter-sexual relatedness in mediating reproductive conflict

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1821) ◽  
pp. 20151991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Martin ◽  
Tristan A. F. Long
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Cooperative Behaviour ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Individual Success

As individual success often comes at the expense of others, interactions between the members of a species are frequently antagonistic, especially in the context of reproduction. In theory, this conflict may be reduced in magnitude when kin interact, as cooperative behaviour between relatives can result in increased inclusive fitness. Recent tests of the potential role of cooperative behaviour between brothers in Drosophila melanogaster have proved to be both exciting and controversial. We set out to replicate these experiments, which have profound implications for the study of kin selection and sexual conflict, and to expand upon them by also examining the potential role of kinship between males and females in reproductive interactions. While we did observe reduced fighting and courtship effort between competing brothers, contrary to previous studies we did not detect any fitness benefit to females as a result of the modification of male antagonistic behaviours. Furthermore, we did not observe any differential treatment of females by their brothers, as would be expected if the intensity of sexual conflict was mediated by kin selection. In the light of these results, we propose an alternative explanation for observed differences in male–male conflict and provide preliminary empirical support for this hypothesis.

POPDC proteins and cardiac function

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brand
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
And Function

Abstract The Popeye domain-containing gene family encodes a novel class of cAMP effector proteins in striated muscle tissue. In this short review, we first introduce the protein family and discuss their structure and function with an emphasis on their role in cyclic AMP signalling. Another focus of this review is the recently discovered role of POPDC genes as striated muscle disease genes, which have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia and muscular dystrophy. The pathological phenotypes observed in patients will be compared with phenotypes present in null and knockin mutations in zebrafish and mouse. A number of protein–protein interaction partners have been discovered and the potential role of POPDC proteins to control the subcellular localization and function of these interacting proteins will be discussed. Finally, we outline several areas, where research is urgently needed.

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