scholarly journals Polyandry and sex-specific gene expression

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1613) ◽  
pp. 20120047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith E. Mank ◽  
Nina Wedell ◽  
David J. Hosken
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Sequence Evolution ◽  
Specific Gene Expression ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Polyandry is widespread in nature, and has important evolutionary consequences for the evolution of sexual dimorphism and sexual conflict. Although many of the phenotypic consequences of polyandry have been elucidated, our understanding of the impacts of polyandry and mating systems on the genome is in its infancy. Polyandry can intensify selection on sexual characters and generate more intense sexual conflict. This has consequences for sequence evolution, but also for sex-biased gene expression, which acts as a link between mating systems, sex-specific selection and the evolution of sexual dimorphism. We discuss this and the remarkable confluence of sexual-conflict theory and patterns of gene expression, while also making predictions about transcription patterns, mating systems and sexual conflict. Gene expression is a key link in the genotype–phenotype chain, and although in its early stages, understanding the sexual selection–transcription relationship will provide significant insights into this critical association.

scholarly journals Gene duplication, tissue-specific gene expression and sexual conflict in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1600) ◽  
pp. 2357-2375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Baker ◽  
Apurva Narechania ◽  
Philip M. Johns ◽  
Gerald S. Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Gene Duplication ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Duplicated Genes

Gene duplication provides an essential source of novel genetic material to facilitate rapid morphological evolution. Traits involved in reproduction and sexual dimorphism represent some of the fastest evolving traits in nature, and gene duplication is intricately involved in the origin and evolution of these traits. Here, we review genomic research on stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae) that has been used to examine the extent of gene duplication and its role in the genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism. Stalk-eyed flies are remarkable because of the elongation of the head into long stalks, with the eyes and antenna laterally displaced at the ends of these stalks. Many species are strongly sexually dimorphic for eyespan, and these flies have become a model system for studying sexual selection. Using both expressed sequence tag and next-generation sequencing, we have established an extensive database of gene expression in the developing eye-antennal imaginal disc, the adult head and testes. Duplicated genes exhibit narrower expression patterns than non-duplicated genes, and the testes, in particular, provide an abundant source of gene duplication. Within somatic tissue, duplicated genes are more likely to be differentially expressed between the sexes, suggesting gene duplication may provide a mechanism for resolving sexual conflict.

Sexual Selection: A Very Short Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Zuk ◽  
Leigh W. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Animal World

Sexual Selection: A Very Short Introduction introduces the astounding array of behaviours and decorative traits in the animal world used for competing for mates, and considers the evolutionary logic that underpins them. It also looks at the history of our understanding of sexual selection, from Darwin’s key insights to the modern day. Considering the investment animals place on reproduction, variation in mating systems, sexual conflict, and the origin of sexual dimorphism, it discusses questions such as whether females can really choose between males on aesthetic grounds, and how sexual conflict is resolved in different species. It concludes with a consideration of the thorny question of how, and even if, sexual selection theory applies to humans.

Reproductive behavior

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Olzer ◽  
Rebecca L. Ehrlich ◽  
Justa L. Heinen-Kay ◽  
Jessie Tanner ◽  
Marlene Zuk
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Reproductive Behavior ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Insect Behavior ◽  
Sequential Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Males And Females

Sex and reproduction lie at the heart of studies of insect behavior. We begin by providing a brief overview of insect anatomy and physiology, followed by an introduction to the overarching themes of parental investment, sexual selection, and mating systems. We then take a sequential approach to illustrate the diversity of phenomena and concepts behind insect reproductive behavior from pre-copulatory mate signalling through copulatory sperm transfer, mating positions, and sexual conflict, to post-copulatory sperm competition, and cryptic female choice. We provide an overview of the evolutionary mechanisms driving reproductive behavior. These events are linked by the economic defendability of mates or resources, and how these are allocated in each sex. Under the framework of economic defendability, the reader can better understand how sexual antagonistic behaviors arise as the result of competing optimal fitness strategies between males and females.

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