Sexual selection and sexual conflict as engines of evolutionary change: diversification and speciation

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Speciation is the evolutionary process through which new species are formed and thus is of direct relevance for biodiversity. Speciation occurs when reproductive isolation evolves, i.e. the cessation of mating between groups. The primary aim of this project is to test whether sexual selection/ sexual conflict can fuel the evolution of isolation, which are both predicted to be important drivers of speciation. Sexual selection is the process by which males compete against each other for mates and by which females choose among males. Recent theory highlights sexual conflict, where the evolutionary interests of males and females differ, thus causing novel opportunities for selection, to lead to rapid evolutionary change in reproductive traits. This research program has two main goals: i) to test the key hypothesis that sexual selection and sexual conflict contribute to diversification of reproductive traits and ii) to investigate how diversification of reproductive traits relates to reproductive incompatibilities between groups. An experimental approach will be taken by manipulating the intensity of sexual selection and sexual conflict in 20 selection lines using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Following 30 generations of selection I expect to find lines with sexual selection to have diverged more strongly than lines where sexual selection and conflict were prevented in line with theoretical predictions. Novel genomic tools and behavioural mating experiments will be used to study diversification in sexual traits at the level of the gene and the whole organism. This work will highlight how and which genes will change in response to elevated sexual selection and conflict and link this insight to evolutionary changes of organisms. Hence, this work will advance our understanding of how the amazing biodiversity we can observe in nature has evolved.