Faculty Opinions recommendation of Assessing putative interlocus sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster using experimental evolution.

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Houle
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Experimental Evolution

scholarly journals Sexual conflict and reproductive isolation in flies

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Hosken ◽  
O.Y. Martin ◽  
S. Wigby ◽  
T. Chapman ◽  
D.J. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Isolation Index

Sexual conflict is predicted to generate more rapid reproductive isolation between larger populations. While there is some empirical support for this, the data are inconsistent and, additionally, there has been criticism of some of the evidence. Here we reanalyse two experimental-evolution datasets using an isolation index widely applied in the speciation literature. We find evidence for reproductive isolation through sexual conflict in Sepsis cynipsea , but not in Drosophila melanogaster , and this occurred to a greater degree in larger populations, which is consistent with previous findings.

scholarly journals Assessing putative interlocus sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster using experimental evolution

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1576) ◽  
pp. 2029-2035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D Stewart ◽  
Edward H Morrow ◽  
William R Rice
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Direct Costs ◽  
Empirical Prediction ◽  
Indirect Benefits ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution

The theoretical foundation of sexually antagonistic coevolution is that females suffer a net fitness cost through their interactions with males. The empirical prediction is that direct costs to female lifetime fecundity will exceed indirect benefits despite a possible increase in the genetic quality of offspring. Although direct costs of males have been repeatedly shown, to date no study has comprehensively tested whether females are compensated for this direct harm through indirect benefits. Here we use experimental evolution to show that a mutation giving Drosophila melanogaster females nearly complete resistance to the direct costs of male courtship and remating, but which also excluded almost all indirect benefits, is strongly favoured by selection. We estimated the selection coefficient favouring the resistance allele to be +20%. These results demonstrate that any indirect benefits that females accrued were not sufficient to counter-balance the direct costs of males, and reinforce a large body of past studies by verifying interlocus sexual conflict in this model system.

scholarly journals Manipulation of feeding regime alters sexual dimorphism for lifespan and reduces sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1854) ◽  
pp. 20170391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. L. Duxbury ◽  
Wayne G. Rostant ◽  
Tracey Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Life History ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Fruit Fly ◽  
Developmental Time ◽  
Feeding Regime ◽  
Focal Female ◽  
Feeding Regimes

Sexual dimorphism for lifespan (SDL) is widespread, but poorly understood. A leading hypothesis, which we test here, is that strong SDL can reduce sexual conflict by allowing each sex to maximize its sex-specific fitness. We used replicated experimental evolution lines of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster , which had been maintained for over 360 generations on either unpredictable ‘Random’ or predictable ‘Regular’ feeding regimes. This evolutionary manipulation of feeding regime led to robust, enhanced SDL in Random over control, Regular lines. Enhanced SDL was associated with a significant increase in the fitness of focal males, tested with wild-type (WT) females. This was due to sex-specific changes to male life history, manifested as increased early reproductive output and reduced survival. In contrast, focal female fitness, tested with WT males, did not differ across regimes. Hence increased SDL was associated with a reduction in sexual conflict, which increased male fitness and maintained fitness in females. Differences in SDL were not associated with developmental time or developmental survival. Overall, the results showed that the expression of enhanced SDL, resulting from experimental evolution of feeding regimes, was associated with male-specific changes in life history, leading to increased fitness and reduced 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 Combining metabolomics and experimental evolution reveals key mechanisms underlying longevity differences in laboratory evolved Drosophila melanogaster populations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Phillips ◽  
Kenneth R. Arnold ◽  
Zer Vue ◽  
Heather Beasley ◽  
Edgar Garza Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Carbohydrate Metabolism ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Accelerated Aging ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Tca Cycle ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Metabolomic Data ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms

Experimental evolution with Drosophila melanogaster has been used extensively for decades to study aging and longevity. In recent years, the addition of DNA and RNA sequencing to this framework has allowed researchers to leverage the statistical power inherent to experimental evolution study the genetic basis of longevity itself. Here we incorporated metabolomic data into to this framework to generate even deeper insights into the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying longevity differences in three groups of experimentally evolved D. melanogaster populations with different aging and longevity patterns. Our metabolomic analysis found that aging alters mitochondrial metabolism through increased consumption of NAD+ and increased usage of the TCA cycle. Combining our genomic and metabolomic data produced a list of biologically relevant candidate genes. Among these candidates, we found significant enrichment for genes and pathways associated with neurological development and function, and carbohydrate metabolism. While we do not explicitly find enrichment for aging canonical genes, neurological dysregulation and carbohydrate metabolism are both known to be associated with accelerated aging and reduced longevity. Taken together, our results in total provide very plausible genetic mechanisms for what might be driving longevity differences in this experimental system. More broadly, our findings demonstrate the value of combining multiple types of omic data with experimental evolution when attempting to dissect mechanisms underlying complex and highly polygenic traits like aging.

scholarly journals Experimental Evolution under Fluctuating Thermal Conditions Does Not Reproduce Patterns of Adaptive Clinal Differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster

2015 ◽  
Vol 186 (5) ◽  
pp. 582-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Kellermann ◽  
Ary A. Hoffmann ◽  
Torsten Nygaard Kristensen ◽  
Neda Nasiri Moghadam ◽  
Volker Loeschcke
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Thermal Conditions

Experimental evolution of resistance against a competing fungus in Drosophila melanogaster

Oecologia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 161 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Wölfle ◽  
Monika Trienens ◽  
Marko Rohlfs
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Resistance

scholarly journals Sex peptide of Drosophila melanogaster males is a global regulator of reproductive processes in females

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1746) ◽  
pp. 4423-4432 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gioti ◽  
S. Wigby ◽  
B. Wertheim ◽  
E. Schuster ◽  
P. Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Nutrient Sensing ◽  
Seminal Fluid Proteins ◽  
Sex Peptide ◽  
Efficient Induction ◽  
Transcriptional Changes ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Processes

Seminal fluid proteins (Sfps) alter female behaviour and physiology and can mediate sexual conflict. In Drosophila melanogaster , a single Sfp, the sex peptide (SP), triggers remarkable post-mating responses in females, including altered fecundity, feeding, immunity and sexual receptivity. These effects can favour the evolutionary interests of males while generating costs in females. We tested the hypothesis that SP is an upstream master-regulator able to induce diverse phenotypes through efficient induction of widespread transcriptional changes in females. We profiled mRNA responses to SP in adult female abdomen (Abd) and head+thorax (HT) tissues using microarrays at 3 and 6 h following mating. SP elicited a rich, subtle signature of temporally and spatially controlled mRNAs. There were significant alterations to genes linked to egg development, early embryogenesis, immunity, nutrient sensing, behaviour and, unexpectedly, phototransduction. There was substantially more variation in the direction of differential expression across time points in the HT versus Abd. The results support the idea that SP is an important regulator of gene expression in females. The expression of many genes in one sex can therefore be under the influence of a regulator expressed in the other. This could influence the extent of sexual conflict both within and between loci.

scholarly journals Female and male genetic contributions to post-mating immune defence in female Drosophila melanogaster

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1700) ◽  
pp. 3649-3657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Short ◽  
Brian P. Lazzaro
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Bacterial Pathogens ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Immune Defence ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Providencia Alcalifaciens ◽  
Genetic Contributions ◽  
Evolution Of Immunity

Post-mating reduction in immune defence is common in female insects, and a trade-off between mating and immunity could affect the evolution of immunity. In this work, we tested the capacity of virgin and mated female Drosophila melanogaster to defend against infection by four bacterial pathogens. We found that female D. melanogaster suffer post-mating immunosuppression in a pathogen-dependent manner. The effect of mating was seen after infection with two bacterial pathogens ( Providencia rettgeri and Providencia alcalifaciens ), though not after infection with two other bacteria ( Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ). We then asked whether the evolution of post-mating immunosuppression is primarily a ‘female’ or ‘male’ trait by assaying for genetic variation among females for the degree of post-mating immune suppression they experience and among males for the level of post-mating immunosuppression they elicit in their mates. We also assayed for an interaction between male and female genotypes to test the specific hypothesis that the evolution of a trade-off between mating and immune defence in females might be being driven by sexual conflict. We found that females, but not males, harbour significant genetic variation for post-mating immunosuppression, and we did not detect an interaction between female and male genotypes. We thus conclude that post-mating immune depression is predominantly a ‘female’ trait, and find no evidence that it is evolving under sexual conflict.

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