scholarly journals The genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism in the mossCeratodon purpureus

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1946) ◽  
pp. 20202908
Author(s):  
Leslie M. Kollar ◽  
Scott Kiel ◽  
Ashley J. James ◽  
Cody T. Carnley ◽  
Danielle N. Scola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection ◽  
The Cross

A central problem in evolutionary biology is to identify the forces that maintain genetic variation for fitness in natural populations. Sexual antagonism, in which selection favours different variants in males and females, can slow the transit of a polymorphism through a population or can actively maintain fitness variation. The amount of sexually antagonistic variation to be expected depends in part on the genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism, about which we know relatively little. Here, we used a multivariate quantitative genetic approach to examine the genetic architecture of sexual dimorphism in a scent-based fertilization syndrome of the mossCeratodon purpureus.We found sexual dimorphism in numerous traits, consistent with a history of sexually antagonistic selection. The cross-sex genetic correlations (rmf) were generally heterogeneous with many values indistinguishable from zero, which typically suggests that genetic constraints do not limit the response to sexually antagonistic selection. However, we detected no differentiation between the female- and male-specific trait (co)variance matrices (GfandGm, respectively), meaning the evolution of sexual dimorphism may be constrained. The cross-sex cross-trait covariance matrixBcontained both symmetric and asymmetric elements, indicating that the response to sexually antagonistic or sexually concordant selection, and the constraint to sexual dimorphism, are highly dependent on the traits experiencing selection. The patterns of genetic variances and covariances among these fitness components is consistent with partly sex-specific genetic architectures having evolved in order to partially resolve multivariate genetic constraints (i.e. sexual conflict), enabling the sexes to evolve towards their sex-specific multivariate trait optima.

scholarly journals The maintenance of polygenic sex determination depends on the dominance of fitness effects which are predictive of the role of sexual antagonism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Meisel
Keyword(s):  
Sex Determination ◽  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
House Fly ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Polygenic Sex Determination

AbstractIn species with polygenic sex determination, multiple male- and/or female-determining loci on different proto-sex chromosomes segregate as polymorphisms within populations. The extent to which these polymorphisms are stable equilibria is not yet resolved. Previous work demonstrated that polygenic sex determination is most likely to be maintained as a stable polymorphism when the proto-sex chromosomes have opposite (sexually antagonistic) fitness effects in males and females. However, these models usually consider polygenic sex determination systems with only two proto-sex chromosomes, or they do not broadly consider the dominance of the variants under selection. To address these shortcomings, I used forward population genetic simulations to identify selection pressures that can maintain polygenic sex determination under different dominance scenarios in a system with more than two proto-sex chromosomes (modeled after the house fly). I found that overdominant fitness effects of male-determining proto-Y chromosomes in males are more likely to maintain polygenic sex determination than dominant, recessive, or additive fitness effects. I also found that additive fitness effects that maintain polygenic sex determination have the strongest signatures of sexually antagonistic selection, but there is also some evidence for sexually antagonism when fitness effects of proto-Y chromosomes are dominant or recessive. More generally, these results suggest that the expected effect of sexually antagonistic selection on the maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations will depend on whether the alleles are sex-linked and the dominance of their fitness effects.

scholarly journals Stable linkage disequilibrium owing to sexual antagonism

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1707) ◽  
pp. 855-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Úbeda ◽  
David Haig ◽  
Manus M. Patten
Keyword(s):  
Linkage Disequilibrium ◽  
Genomic Structure ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Allele Frequencies ◽  
Population Subdivision ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Frequent Observation

Linkage disequilibrium (LD) is an association between genetic loci that is typically transient. Here, we identify a previously overlooked cause of stable LD that may be pervasive: sexual antagonism. This form of selection produces unequal allele frequencies in males and females each generation, which upon admixture at fertilization give rise to an excess of haplotypes that couple male-beneficial with male-beneficial and female-beneficial with female-beneficial alleles. Under sexual antagonism, LD is obtained for all recombination frequencies in the absence of epistasis. The extent of LD is highest at low recombination and for stronger selection. We provide a partition of the total LD into distinct components and compare our result for sexual antagonism with Li and Nei's model of LD owing to population subdivision. Given the frequent observation of sexually antagonistic selection in natural populations and the number of traits that are often involved, these results suggest a major contribution of sexual antagonism to genomic structure.

scholarly journals The evolution of heterochiasmy: the role of sexual selection and sperm competition in determining sex-specific recombination rates in eutherian mammals

2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 355-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDITH E. MANK
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Male Fitness ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Recombination Rates ◽  
Male Recombination ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Fitness Parameters ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection

SummaryEarly karyotypic work revealed that female and male recombination rates in many species show pronounced differences, and this pattern of heterochiasmy has also been observed in modern linkage mapping studies. Several hypotheses to explain this phenomenon have been offered, ranging from strictly biological mechanisms related to the gametic differences between the sexes, to more evolutionary models based on sexually antagonistic selection. However, despite the long history of interest in heterochiasmy, empirical data has failed to support any theory or pattern consistently. Here I test two alternative evolutionary hypotheses regarding heterochiasmy across the eutherian mammals, and show that sexual dimorphism, but not sperm competition, is strongly correlated with recombination rate, suggesting that sexual antagonism is an important influence. However, the observed relationship between heterochiasmy and sexual dimorphism runs counter to theoretical predictions, with male recombination higher in species with high levels of sexual dimorphism. This may be the response to male-biased dispersal, which, rather than the static male fitness landscape envisioned in the models tested here, could radically shift optimal male fitness parameters among generations.

scholarly journals Sexual differences in genetic architecture in UK Biobank

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Bernabeu ◽  
Oriol Canela-Xandri ◽  
Konrad Rawlik ◽  
Andrea Talenti ◽  
James Prendergast ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Complex Traits ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Uk Biobank

ABSTRACTSex is arguably the most important differentiating characteristic in most mammalian species, separating populations into different groups, with varying behaviors, morphologies, and physiologies based on their complement of sex chromosomes. In humans, despite males and females sharing nearly identical genomes, there are differences between the sexes in complex traits and in the risk of a wide array of diseases. Gene by sex interactions (GxS) are thought to account for some of this sexual dimorphism. However, the extent and basis of these interactions are poorly understood.Here we provide insights into both the scope and mechanism of GxS across the genome of circa 450,000 individuals of European ancestry and 530 complex traits in the UK Biobank. We found small yet widespread differences in genetic architecture across traits through the calculation of sex-specific heritability, genetic correlations, and sex-stratified genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We also found that, in some cases, sex-agnostic GWAS efforts might be missing loci of interest, and looked into possible improvements in the prediction of high-level phenotypes. Finally, we studied the potential functional role of the dimorphism observed through sex-biased eQTL and gene-level analyses.This study marks a broad examination of the genetics of sexual dimorphism. Our findings parallel previous reports, suggesting the presence of sexual genetic heterogeneity across complex traits of generally modest magnitude. Our results suggest the need to consider sex-stratified analyses for future studies in order to shed light into possible sex-specific molecular mechanisms.

scholarly journals Sexual antagonism drives the displacement of polymorphism across gene regulatory cascades

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hill ◽  
Max Reuter ◽  
Alexander J. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Regulatory Cascade ◽  
Regulatory Architecture ◽  
Regulatory Cascades ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Intermediate Expression ◽  
Upstream Regulators

Males and females have different reproductive roles and are often subject to contrasting selection pressures. This sexual antagonism can lead, at a given locus, to different alleles being favoured in each sex and, consequently, to genetic variation being maintained in a population. Although the presence of antagonistic polymorphisms has been documented across a range of species, their evolutionary dynamics remain poorly understood. Here we study antagonistic selection on gene expression, which is fundamental to sexual dimorphism, via the evolution of regulatory binding sites. We show that for sites longer than 1 nucleotide, polymorphism is maintained only when intermediate expression levels are deleterious to both sexes. We then show that, in a regulatory cascade, polymorphism tends to become displaced over evolutionary time from the target of antagonistic selection to upstream regulators. Our results have consequences for understanding the evolution of sexual dimorphism, and provide specific empirical predictions for the regulatory architecture of genes under antagonistic selection

scholarly journals Geographical gradients in selection can reveal genetic constraints for evolutionary responses to ocean acidification

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 20160784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Diego Gaitán-Espitia ◽  
Dustin Marshall ◽  
Sam Dupont ◽  
Leonardo D. Bacigalupe ◽  
Levente Bodrossy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Low Ph ◽  
Directional Selection ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Geographical gradients in selection can shape different genetic architectures in natural populations, reflecting potential genetic constraints for adaptive evolution under climate change. Investigation of natural pH/ p CO 2 variation in upwelling regions reveals different spatio-temporal patterns of natural selection, generating genetic and phenotypic clines in populations, and potentially leading to local adaptation, relevant to understanding effects of ocean acidification (OA). Strong directional selection, associated with intense and continuous upwellings, may have depleted genetic variation in populations within these upwelling regions, favouring increased tolerances to low pH but with an associated cost in other traits. In contrast, diversifying or weak directional selection in populations with seasonal upwellings or outside major upwelling regions may have resulted in higher genetic variances and the lack of genetic correlations among traits. Testing this hypothesis in geographical regions with similar environmental conditions to those predicted under climate change will build insights into how selection may act in the future and how populations may respond to stressors such as OA.

scholarly journals Sex-Specific Selection and the Evolution of Between-Sex Genetic Covariance

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel W McGlothlin ◽  
Robert M Cox ◽  
Edmund D Brodie
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Directional Selection ◽  
Genetic Covariance ◽  
Empirical Measures ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Intralocus Sexual Conflict ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Brown Anole ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection

Abstract Because the sexes share a genome, traits expressed in males are usually genetically correlated with the same traits expressed in females. On short timescales, between-sex genetic correlations (rmf) for shared traits may constrain the evolution of sexual dimorphism by preventing males and females from responding independently to sex-specific selection. However, over longer timescales, rmf may evolve, thereby facilitating the evolution of dimorphism. Although it has been suggested that sexually antagonistic selection may reduce rmf, we lack a general theory for the evolution of rmf and its multivariate analog, the between-sex genetic covariance matrix (B). Here, we derive a simple analytical model for the within-generation change in B due to sex-specific directional selection. We present a single-trait example demonstrating that sex-specific directional selection may either increase or decrease between-sex genetic covariance, depending on the relative strength of selection in each sex and on the current value of rmf. Although sexually antagonistic selection can reduce between-sex covariance, it will only do so when selection is much stronger in one sex than in the other. Counterintuitively, sexually antagonistic selection that is equal in strength in the 2 sexes will maintain positive between-sex covariance. Selection acting in the same direction on both sexes is predicted to reduce between-sex covariance in many cases. We illustrate our model numerically using empirical measures of sex-specific selection and between-sex genetic covariance from 2 populations of sexually dimorphic brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei) and discuss its importance for understanding the resolution of intralocus sexual conflict.

scholarly journals Climatic factors and species range position predict sexually antagonistic selection across taxa

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1757) ◽  
pp. 20170415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen P. De Lisle ◽  
Debora Goedert ◽  
Aaron M. Reedy ◽  
Erik I. Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Local Adaptation ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Antagonistic Selection ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Selection

Sex differences in selection are ubiquitous in sexually reproducing organisms. When the genetic basis of traits is shared between the sexes, such sexually antagonistic selection (SAS) creates a potential constraint on adaptive evolution. Theory and laboratory experiments suggest that environmental variation and the degree of local adaptation may all affect the frequency and intensity of SAS. Here, we capitalize on a large database of over 700 spatially or temporally replicated estimates of sex-specific phenotypic selection from wild populations, combined with data on microclimates and geographical range information. We performed a meta-analysis to test three predictions from SAS theory, that selection becomes more concordant between males and females: (1) in more stressful environments, (2) in more variable environments and (3) closer to the edge of the species' range. We find partial empirical support for all three predictions. Within-study analyses indicate SAS decreases in extreme environments, as indicated by a relationship with maximum temperature, minimum precipitation and evaporative potential (PET). Across studies, we found that the average level of SAS at high latitudes was lower, where environmental conditions are typically less stable. Finally, we found evidence for reduced SAS in populations that are far from the centre of their geographical range. However, and notably, we also found some evidence of reduced average strength of selection in these populations, which is in contrast to predictions from classical theoretical models on range limit evolution. Our results suggest that environmental lability and species range position predictably influence sex-specific selection and sexual antagonism in the wild. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences’.

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