A gradient of sexual selection and sexual conflict: parental investment and sex-role reversal and their genomic footprints

性选择和性冲突的梯度：父母投资和性别角色逆转及其基因组足迹

• 批准号: 497674620
• 负责人: Dr. Astrid Böhne
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Zoologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/497674620?language=en
• 关键词: gradient; sexual; selection; conflict; parental

Selection acts differently on males and females and drives their phenotypic dissimilarities. Most research has focused on males and how sexual selection shapes their ornaments and weaponry in the context of gaining access to female mates. This is not least due to the fact that humans, as most other vertebrates, show "conventional", "Darwinian" sex roles concentrating our perception on competitive males and caring mothers. In several seahorse, seadragon and pipefish species (family Syngnathidae), however, females compete for access to mates, while males are the choosy sex and provide the parental care during male pregnancy. Our project will investigate how these species evolved under intensified sexual selection on females and how the evolution of sex-specific traits from a genome shared between the sexes and hence with sexual conflict is impacted by increasing paternal care. To this aim we will identify sex-specific sequences (sex chromosomes) as well as sex-biased gene expression in tissues with strong or little sex differences in species with varying degrees of sexual conflict. We will analyze if genes mediating sex roles are derived from sex-determining genes. Benefitting from the repetitive evolution of sex-role reversal, we will test for patterns of novel and convergent sequence evolution within syngnathids but also to other vertebrate groups that also evolved pregnancy. Not only is male pregnancy a unique reproduction strategy of syngnathids but the structure sustaining embryonic attachment to the father´s body, the brood pouch, also evolved increased complexity several times within syngnathids. We will use this repetitive evolutionary pattern for comparative studies of genome and transcriptome evolution as well as their physiological impacts along repeated gradients of ascending paternal investment. The afore mentioned "sex-role reversal" accompanied by the evolution of sexual dimorphism manifested with beautiful and sometimes spectacular ornaments in the female sex has independently evolved in several phylogenetic subgroups of syngnathids. We will investigate how sex-specific phenotypes are built upon sex-biased gene expression and how this might lead to sexual antagonistic conflict in their common genome. In addition, we will scrutinise the role of hormones in regulating gene expression and sexual phenotypes including behaviour. This project will characterise the genetic and endocrinological network of female- and maleness and distinguish it from the sex-role network building upon generating of high-quality reference genomes, genome resequencing data of males and females, multi tissue transcriptomics as well as endocrinological manipulations.

选择对雄性和雌性的作用不同，并导致它们的表型差异。大多数研究都集中在男性以及性选择如何在获得女性配偶的背景下塑造他们的装饰品和武器。这主要是因为人类和大多数其他脊椎动物一样，表现出“传统的”、“达尔文式的”性别角色，我们的感知集中在竞争性的雄性和有爱心的母亲身上。在一些海马，海龙和海龙物种（家庭海龙科），但是，女性竞争获得配偶，而男性是挑剔的性别，并在男性怀孕期间提供父母的照顾。我们的项目将调查这些物种如何在对雌性的强化性选择下进化，以及性别特异性特征如何从两性之间共享的基因组进化，从而与性冲突受到越来越多的父亲照顾的影响。为了这个目的，我们将确定性别特异性序列（性染色体），以及性别偏见的基因表达在组织中具有强或弱的性别差异的物种不同程度的性冲突。我们将分析介导性别角色的基因是否来自性别决定基因。受益于重复进化的性别角色逆转，我们将测试模式的新的和收敛的序列进化内的海龙，但也进化怀孕的其他脊椎动物群体。雄性怀孕不仅是海龙类独特的繁殖策略，而且维持胚胎附着在父亲身体上的结构，即育儿袋，也在海龙类中进化出了几倍的复杂性。我们将使用这种重复的进化模式进行基因组和转录组进化的比较研究，以及它们沿着沿着父亲投资的重复梯度的生理影响。前面提到的“性别角色逆转”伴随着两性异形的进化，表现为雌性的美丽，有时壮观的装饰，已经独立地在几个系统发育的海龙类亚群中进化。我们将研究性别特异性表型是如何建立在性别偏见的基因表达，以及这如何可能导致在他们共同的基因组中的性对抗冲突。此外，我们将仔细研究激素在调节基因表达和性表型（包括行为）中的作用。该项目将建立女性和男性的遗传和内分泌网络，并将其与建立在高质量参考基因组、男性和女性基因组重测序数据、多组织转录组学以及内分泌操作基础上的性别角色网络区分开来。