One Gene Is Not Enough To Explain the Evolution of Homosexuality
One Gene Is Not Enough To Explain the Evolution of Homosexuality
复制标题
一个基因不足以解释同性恋的进化
DOI:
10.1007/s10508-019-01575-z
复制
发表时间:
2021
影响因子:
3.8
通讯作者:
Haag, Eric S.
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Haag, Eric S.
Most mammalian lineages have two distinct modes of olfaction. One is the main olfactory system (MOS), which is specialized for volatile compounds from the environment, such as those associated with food. The other is the vomeronasal system (VNS), which uses a distinct neuroepithelium, the vomeronasal organ (VNO), to sense molecules that mediate conspecific social interactions. These molecules include pheromones that signal the sex, maturity, and reproductive receptivity of another individual. Though both the MOS and VNS were ancestral to placental mammals, they have been reduced in parallel in some lineages. The VNS, in particular, has been lost in the catarrhine primates (ie, old world monkeys [OWM], apes, and humans), most bats, and the fully aquatic cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and manatees (Bhatnagar & Meisami, 1998; Kishida, Thewissen, Hayakawa, Imai, & Agata, 2015; Mackay-Sim, Duvall, & Graves, 1985). Some platyrrhine primates (ie, new world monkeys [NWM]) also show highly reduced VNO (Smith et al., 2011). Mutant mice lacking TRPC2 function retain a vomeronasal sensory epithelium, but cannot detect or respond to known pheromones (Stowers, Holy, Meister, Dulac, & Koentges, 2002). The resulting impairment of afferent vomeronasal receptor (VR) signaling leads to loss of VNS-mediated behaviors, such as male–male aggression and the limitation of copulation attempts to females, as well as increased same-sex sexual behavior (SSSB). SSSB is also seen in catarrhines and in a subset of platyrrhine monkeys (Dixson, 2010; Vasey, 1995). Pflau, Jordan, and Breedlove (2019) note an intriguing correlation between the absence of a robust VNS and the presence of SSSB. They also point out that null alleles of TRPC2were fixed in the catarrhines and coincide (at least roughly) with observable SSSB in that clade. Because the TRP family in mammals is small, and because full-length TRPC2 pseudogenes exist in catarrhine genomes (Liman, Corey, & Dulac, 1999; Vannier et al., 1999; Wes et al., 1995), orthology and recent loss are not in doubt. The question thus becomes how to interpret this loss. Noting the essential role of the VNO in mediating sex recognition in rodents, Pflau et al.(2019) suggest that TRPC2 could be a determiner of sex-specific behavior across mammals more broadly. Further, they propose that its loss may have been the initial trigger that allowed frequent SSSB to emerge in catarrhine primates, including the homosexuality of our own species. Because of its simplicity, this is an attractive hypothesis. However, it rests on three assumptions that each appear to be somewhat shaky.
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影响因子:
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作者:
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通讯作者:
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DOI:
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期刊:
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DOI:
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期刊:
Chemical Sensors
影响因子:
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作者:
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通讯作者:
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DOI:
10.1098/rspb.2018.0100
发表时间:
2018-03-14
影响因子:
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作者:
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