Shall we dance or shall we fight? Using DNA sequence data to untangle controversies surrounding sexual selection

Genome ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Civetta

Population and evolutionary genetics studies have largely benefitted from advances in DNA manipulation and sequencing, as well as DNA data analysis techniques. Molecular evolution studies of male reproductive genes show a pattern of rapid evolution shaped, in some cases, by an adaptive selective process. Despite the large body of data on male reproductive genes, the female side of the story has remained unexplored. The few cases of female egg receptors analyzed also show rapid evolution. However, to disentangle between competing hypotheses on how selection operates on male × female molecular interaction leading to fertilization, we need to find male and female molecules that are partners in fertilization. A conflict model of sexual selection (similar to a host-parasite model) assumes a male-driven system where females are being forced under suboptimal conditions. This predicts that the amount of divergence at a female receptor depends on the amount of divergence among the male reproductive proteins that it binds (i.e., males are leading). Under a classical model of runaway sexual selection, female protein receptors might be the key to the rapid molecular changes observed in male reproductive proteins and higher divergence should be expected among female receptors than among their respective male binding proteins.Key words: Reproductive genes, DNA sequence data, sexual selection, coadaptation, conflict.

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara G. Briggs

The 1996 Commemorative Proteaceae Conference drew attention to the large body of work proceeding on all southern continents, the extensive and informative fossil record, and the wide range of studies in ecology and reproductive biology. DNA sequence data and organogeny are producing major insights at the upper taxonomic levels, new phylogenetic hypotheses and classifications are emerging in respect of the recognition of subfamilies and the relationships and composition of tribes, and there is also evidence from morphology and DNA sequence data that several genera are paraphyletic.


Genetics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 183 (3) ◽  
pp. 757-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Charlesworth ◽  
Deborah Charlesworth

Darwin's theory of natural selection lacked an adequate account of inheritance, making it logically incomplete. We review the interaction between evolution and genetics, showing how, unlike Mendel, Darwin's lack of a model of the mechanism of inheritance left him unable to interpret his own data that showed Mendelian ratios, even though he shared with Mendel a more mathematical and probabilistic outlook than most biologists of his time. Darwin's own “pangenesis” model provided a mechanism for generating ample variability on which selection could act. It involved, however, the inheritance of characters acquired during an organism's life, which Darwin himself knew could not explain some evolutionary situations. Once the particulate basis of genetics was understood, it was seen to allow variation to be passed intact to new generations, and evolution could then be understood as a process of changes in the frequencies of stable variants. Evolutionary genetics subsequently developed as a central part of biology. Darwinian principles now play a greater role in biology than ever before, which we illustrate with some examples of studies of natural selection that use DNA sequence data and with some recent advances in answering questions first asked by Darwin.


2019 ◽  
pp. 145-172
Author(s):  
Glenn-Peter Sætre ◽  
Mark Ravinet

The allelic evolutionary genetic models explored so far are applicable to genetic markers. However, DNA sequences harbor a lot of information about the evolutionary past that would be missed if different sequences were simply treated as different alleles. This chapter introduces some important methods and concepts applicable to the analysis of DNA-sequence data. The null models for analyzing sequence data are derived from the neutral theory of molecular evolution. Historically, however, the neutral theory has made a large impact on evolutionary genetics. Therefore, this chapter starts by reviewing its important contribution. Then, important parameters and statistics for analyzing sequence variation are introduced, including a plethora of neutrality tests. The chapter ends with a cautious focus on the powerful tool of genome scan analysis and its utility for identifying regions of the genomes potentially under selection. This includes a section on more recently derived statistics which incorporate information on haplotype structure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen Plaisier ◽  
Thomas R. Meagher ◽  
Daniel Barker

Abstract Objective Visualisation methods, primarily color-coded representation of sequence data, have been a predominant means of representation of DNA data. Algorithmic conversion of DNA sequence data to sound—sonification—represents an alternative means of representation that uses a different range of human sensory perception. We propose that sonification has value for public engagement with DNA sequence information because it has potential to be entertaining as well as informative. We conduct preliminary work to explore the potential of DNA sequence sonification in public engagement with bioinformatics. We apply a simple sonification technique for DNA, in which each DNA base is represented by a specific note. Additionally, a beat may be added to indicate codon boundaries or for musical effect. We report a brief analysis from public engagement events we conducted that featured this method of sonification. Results We report on use of DNA sequence sonification at two public events. Sonification has potential in public engagement with bioinformatics, both as a means of data representation and as a means to attract audience to a drop-in stand. We also discuss further directions for research on integration of sonification into bioinformatics public engagement and education.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4766 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-484
Author(s):  
HANNAH E. SOM ◽  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
RAFE M. BROWN ◽  
...  

Liopeltis is a genus of poorly known, infrequently sampled species of colubrid snakes in tropical Asia. We collected a specimen of Liopeltis from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia, that superficially resembled L. philippina, a rare species that is endemic to the Palawan Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex, western Philippines. We analyzed morphological and mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the Pulau Tioman specimen and found distinct differences to L. philippina and all other congeners. On the basis of these corroborated lines of evidence, the Pulau Tioman specimen is described as a new species, L. tiomanica sp. nov. The new species occurs in sympatry with L. tricolor on Pulau Tioman, and our description of L. tiomanica sp. nov. brings the number of endemic amphibians and reptiles on Pulau Tioman to 12. 


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 193-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kou Amano ◽  
Hiroaki Ichikawa ◽  
Hidemitsu Nakamura ◽  
Hisataka Numa ◽  
Kaoru Fukami-Kobayashi ◽  
...  

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