scholarly journals Sex differences in nutrient intake can reduce the potential for sexual conflict over fitness maximization by female and male crickets

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1106-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soon Hwee Ng ◽  
Stephen J. Simpson ◽  
Leigh W. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Nutrient Intake ◽  
Fitness Maximization

scholarly journals Intralocus sexual conflict over optimal nutrient intake and the evolution of sex differences in lifespan and reproduction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hawkes ◽  
Sarah M. Lane ◽  
James Rapkin ◽  
Kim Jensen ◽  
Clarissa M. House ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Nutrient Intake ◽  
Evolution Of Sex ◽  
Intralocus Sexual Conflict

scholarly journals Sexual conflict drives micro- and macroevolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity

BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Basabi Bagchi ◽  
Quentin Corbel ◽  
Imroze Khan ◽  
Ellen Payne ◽  
Devshuvam Banerji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Parasitic Infections ◽  
Pathogen Dynamics ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Host Pathogen ◽  
Seed Beetles

Abstract Background Sexual dimorphism in immunity is believed to reflect sex differences in reproductive strategies and trade-offs between competing life history demands. Sexual selection can have major effects on mating rates and sex-specific costs of mating and may thereby influence sex differences in immunity as well as associated host–pathogen dynamics. Yet, experimental evidence linking the mating system to evolved sexual dimorphism in immunity are scarce and the direct effects of mating rate on immunity are not well established. Here, we use transcriptomic analyses, experimental evolution and phylogenetic comparative methods to study the association between the mating system and sexual dimorphism in immunity in seed beetles, where mating causes internal injuries in females. Results We demonstrate that female phenoloxidase (PO) activity, involved in wound healing and defence against parasitic infections, is elevated relative to males. This difference is accompanied by concomitant sex differences in the expression of genes in the prophenoloxidase activating cascade. We document substantial phenotypic plasticity in female PO activity in response to mating and show that experimental evolution under enforced monogamy (resulting in low remating rates and reduced sexual conflict relative to natural polygamy) rapidly decreases female (but not male) PO activity. Moreover, monogamous females had evolved increased tolerance to bacterial infection unrelated to mating, implying that female responses to costly mating may trade off with other aspects of immune defence, an hypothesis which broadly accords with the documented sex differences in gene expression. Finally, female (but not male) PO activity shows correlated evolution with the perceived harmfulness of male genitalia across 12 species of seed beetles, suggesting that sexual conflict has a significant influence on sexual dimorphisms in immunity in this group of insects. Conclusions Our study provides insights into the links between sexual conflict and sexual dimorphism in immunity and suggests that selection pressures moulded by mating interactions can lead to a sex-specific mosaic of immune responses with important implications for host–pathogen dynamics in sexually reproducing organisms.

scholarly journals Sexual conflict in humans: evolutionary consequences of asymmetric parental investment and paternity uncertainty

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Shackelford ◽  
Aaron Goetz
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Sexual Coercion ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Internal Fertilization ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Paternity Uncertainty ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

AbstractWe argue that sexual conflict was a recurrent feature of human evolutionary history, just as it has been in every sexually reproducing species that does not practice life-long genetic monogamy. We suggest that the source of much of the conflict between men and women can be reduced to an asymmetry in reproductive biology. This asymmetry—fertilization and gestation occurring within women—produces (a) sex differences in minimum obligatory parental investment and (b) paternity uncertainty. We argue that these consequences of internal fertilization and gestation are responsible for many phenomena in humans, such as sexual coercion, commitment skepticism, sexual overperception, and a host of adaptations associated with sperm competition.

scholarly journals Sexual conflict mediated by ecological sex differences can generate diverse patterns of transgenerational plasticity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan William Burke ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Russell Bonduriansky
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Transgenerational Plasticity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sex Limitation ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Health Cognition

ABSTRACTTransgenerational plasticity (TGP) occurs when the environment experienced by parents induces changes in traits of offspring and/or subsequent generations. Such effects can be adaptive or non-adaptive and are increasingly recognised as key determinants of health, cognition, development and performance across a wide range of taxa, including humans. While the conditions that favour maternal TGP are well understood, rapidly accumulating evidence indicates that TGP can be maternal or paternal, and offspring responses can be sex-specific. However, the evolutionary mechanisms that drive this diversity are unknown. We used an individual-based model to investigate the evolution of TGP when the sexes experience different ecologies. We find that adaptive TGP rarely evolves when alleles at loci that determine offspring responses to environmental information originating from the mother and father are subject to sexually antagonistic selection. By contrast, duplication and sex-limitation of such loci can allow for the evolution of a variety of sex-specific responses, including non-adaptive sex-specific TGP when sexual selection is strong. Sexual conflict could therefore help to explain why adaptive TGP evolves in some species but not others, why sons and daughters respond to parental signals in different ways, and why complex patterns of sex-specific TGP may often be non-adaptive.

scholarly journals Sexual conflict in its ecological setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1757) ◽  
pp. 20170418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Perry ◽  
Locke Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Ecological Context ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Antagonistic Coevolution ◽  
Water Striders ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution ◽  
Gaining Insight

Sexual conflict can lead to rapid and continuous coevolution between females and males, without any inputs from varying ecology. Yet both the degree of conflict and selection on antagonistic traits are known to be sensitive to local ecological conditions. This leads to the longstanding question: to what extent does variation in ecological context drive sexually antagonistic coevolution? In water striders, there is much information about the impacts of ecological factors on conflict, and about patterns of antagonistic coevolution. However, the connection between the two is poorly understood. Here, we first review the multiple ways in which ecological context might affect the coevolutionary trajectory of the sexes. We then review ecological and coevolutionary patterns in water striders, and connections between them, in light of theory and new data. Our analysis suggests that ecological variation does impact observed patterns of antagonistic coevolution, but highlights significant uncertainty due to the multiple pathways by which ecological factors can influence conflict and its evolutionary outcome. To the extent that water striders are a reasonable reflection of other systems, this observation serves as both an opportunity and a warning: there is much to learn, but gaining insight may be a daunting process in many systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'.

scholarly journals Hybridization, sex-specific genomic architecture and local adaptation

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1757) ◽  
pp. 20170419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Runemark ◽  
Fabrice Eroukhmanoff ◽  
Angela Nava-Bolaños ◽  
Jo S. Hermansen ◽  
Joana I. Meier
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Transgressive Segregation ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Adaptive Introgression ◽  
Second Sex ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

While gene flow can reduce the potential for local adaptation, hybridization may conversely provide genetic variation that increases the potential for local adaptation. Hybridization may also affect adaptation through altering sexual dimorphism and sexual conflict, but this remains largely unstudied. Here, we discuss how hybridization may affect sexual dimorphism and conflict due to differential effects of hybridization on males and females, and then how this, in turn, may affect local adaptation. First, in species with heterochromatic sexes, the lower viability of the heterogametic sex in hybrids could shift the balance in sexual conflict. Second, sex-specific inheritance of the mitochondrial genome in hybrids may lead to cytonuclear mismatches, for example, in the form of ‘mother's curse’, with potential consequences for sex ratio and sex-specific expression. Third, sex-biased introgression and recombination may lead to sex-specific consequences of hybridization. Fourth, transgressive segregation of sexually antagonistic alleles could increase sexual dimorphism in hybrid populations. Sexual dimorphism can reduce sexual conflict and enhance intersexual niche partitioning, increasing the fitness of hybrids. Adaptive introgression of alleles reducing sexual conflict or enhancing intersexual niche partitioning may facilitate local adaptation, and could favour the colonization of novel habitats. We review these consequences of hybridization on sex differences and local adaptation, and discuss how their prevalence and importance could be tested empirically. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'.

scholarly journals Sex Differences in Diet Quality and Nutrient Intake in Adults Living With Chronic Kidney Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 859-859
Author(s):  
Kelly Picard ◽  
Melanie Griffiths ◽  
Leanne Brunelle ◽  
Diana Mager ◽  
Caroline Richard
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
General Population ◽  
Energy Intake ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Nutrient Intake ◽  
Healthy Eating Index ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Composite Scores

Abstract Objectives Recognition is growing that sex impacts outcomes in kidney disease. Women tend to have slower kidney function decline and better controlled risk factors pre-dialysis but the same mortality rates as men once dialysis starts. In the general population, women tend to have higher diet quality scores. Little is known about how sex differences impact diet quality and how this may explain known sex differences in this population. Methods Diet History Questionnaire-3 (DHQ3) was administered to adults attending the Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton Alberta pre-dialysis (CKD; n = 46) or Hemodialysis (HD; n = 65) clinics. Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was used to assess diet quality. Nutrient intake was assessed per kg of body weight and adjusted for energy intake (i.e., per 1000kcal). Outcomes were assessed with subjects divided into sex category and clinic (CKD vs HD). Two tailed t-tests were used to test for sex differences in parametric variables. HEI scores were compared to age-matched general population values and sorted into below or above the comparator. Chi-square test were used to test for statistical significance in categorical variables. Results 110 participants were included, 51 females and 60 males. There was no sex difference in mean HEI between females (61.2 ± 9.7) and males (59.9 ± 8.8; p = 0.464). 57% of females and 60% of males had HEI scores below mean age-matched HEI scores for the general population and no sex differences were observed. Pre-dialysis females had higher whole fruit composite scores vs pre-dialysis males (females 4.7 ± 0.7; males 3.8 ± 1.6, p = 0.015). Males consumed more total and mg/kg body weight protein, potassium, phosphorus and sodium than females (all p < 0.05); however, when intakes were adjusted for energy intake, there was no difference. Conclusions In this cohort of patients with CKD there were no observed differences in diet quality score between males and females. The majority of CKD patients had lower diet quality scores than the general population which might explain, to some extent, the few sex differences observed in this population. However, the higher whole fruit composite scores in pre-dialysis women may to some degree explain sex differences observed in pre-dialysis kidney disease. Further studies exploring dietary intake and sex differences in this population appear warranted. Funding Sources None.

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