Release from intralocus sexual conflict? Evolved loss of a male sexual trait demasculinizes female gene expression
Date
17/04/2019Grant ID
105621/Z/14/Z
Ne/I027800/1
NE/G014906/1
NE/L011255/1
Keywords
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Show full item recordAbstract
The loss of sexual ornaments is observed across taxa, and pleiotropic effects of such losses provide an opportunity to gain insight into underlying dynamics of sex-biased gene expression and intralocus sexual conflict (IASC). We investigated this in a Hawaiian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, in which an X-linked genotype (flatwing) feminises males’ wings and eliminates their ability to produce sexually selected songs. We profiled adult gene expression across somatic and reproductive tissues of both sexes. Despite the feminising effect of flatwing on male wings, we found no evidence of feminised gene expression in males. Instead, female transcriptomes were more strongly affected by flatwing than males’, and exhibited demasculinised gene expression. These findings are consistent with a relaxation of IASC constraining female gene expression through loss of a male sexual ornament. In a follow-up experiment we found reduced testes mass in flatwing males, whereas female carriers showed no reduction in egg production. In contrast, female carriers exhibited greater measures of body condition. Our results suggest sex-limited phenotypic expression offers only partial resolution to intralocus sexual conflict, owing to pleiotropic effects of the loci involved. Benefits conferred by release from intralocus conflict could help explain widespread loss of sexual ornaments across taxa.
Citation
Rayner , J , Pascoal , S C M & Bailey , N W 2019 , ' Release from intralocus sexual conflict? Evolved loss of a male sexual trait demasculinizes female gene expression ' , Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , vol. 286 , no. 1901 , 20190497 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0497
Publication
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0962-8452Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2019, the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher's policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0497
Description
Funding: Bioinformatic analyses were supported by the University of St Andrew Bioinformatics Unit (Wellcome Trust ISSF award 105621/Z/14/Z). This work was supported by funding to N.W.B. from the UK Natural Environment Research Council which is gratefully acknowledged (NE/I027800/1, NE/G014906/1, NE/L011255/1).Collections
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