The evolution of female mating systems: tracing the origins and tracking the consequences

女性交配系统的进化：追溯起源并追踪后果

• 批准号: BB/V005855/1
• 负责人: Rebecca Boulton
• 金额: $ 38.48万
• 依托单位: University of Stirling
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV005855%2F1
• 关键词: evolution; female; mating; systems; tracing

A key focus in evolutionary biology has been to understand how mating patterns evolve in different species and populations. Research into mating behaviour has historically focussed on why extravagant male traits evolve, but in recent years more subtle aspects of female mating behaviour have been uncovered. Traditionally females were assumed to mate only once (monandry) to acquire enough sperm to reproduce. However, it is now clear that monandry is rare and that females typically mate with multiple males (polyandry). Recent work has shown that while polyandry can be costly, it can also allow females to produce more offspring, and that polyandrous populations can be less likely to go extinct. Yet, while we know that female preference can drive evolutionary change in extravagant male traits (like the peacock's tail), we still do not know what drives the evolution of different female mating rates and why monandry is so rare. The work that I propose will advance our understanding of female mating strategies, broadening the field to ask questions about how and why female mating systems change. I will develop simulation models (collab. Dr Brad Duthie) to infer how many times the first sexually reproducing organisms, which lived billions of years ago, mated. These models will help me to understand how mating patterns in ancient organisms evolved alongside sexual reproduction, in terms of the evolution of separate sexes (males and females) and internal fertilisation (mating). I will then construct an evolutionary model to look at finer scale and more recent changes in female mating behaviour in a novel group of species, the parasitoid wasps. Parasitoid wasps are important natural enemies that are used to control pest species, so we know a lot about their behaviour, physiology and genetics. In particular, parasitoid females have diverse mating rates across different species ranging from asexuality (no-mating) through to monandry and polyandry. The diversity in and knowledge of female mating patterns across the parasitoids will allow me to use evolutionary analyses to estimate when and why female mating behaviour changed in the past, and whether these changes drive the evolution of other traits (collab. Dr Sally Street). As an example, parasitoids show great variation in the sex ratio; in some species over 90% of the population are female. I predict that polyandry will be more common in species with strongly female-biased sex ratios, so that females can obtain enough sperm to reproduce.I will also track changes in female mating behaviour in real-time using experimental evolution in the aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus fabarum (collab. Prof Christoph Vorburger). I will run experiments at the University of Stirling, setting up greenhouse populations comprised of monandrous, polyandrous and asexual females and then alter the sex ratio, to either limit or increase the availability of males. I will measure female mating rates over generations to test whether factors such as mate-limitation drive changes in the frequency of different female mating strategies.My results will reveal whether polyandrous, monandrous or asexual parasitoids are likely to be more robust to extinction threats (such as climate change). These findings also have important ramifications for the control of pests and invasive species by parasitoid wasps and could be used to develop long-term sustainable and cost-effective biological control strategies in order to control crop pests and invasive species. The international partnerships that I have developed (Dr Luc Bussiere, Dr Bart Pannebakker) will facilitate the dissemination of my findings to industrial stakeholders so that my insights can be integrated into policy. Alongside my experimental work, I will also use bibliometric techniques to analyse research papers and investigate how integrating new methods and more diverse gender perspectives has shaped our understanding of female mating behaviour.

进化生物学的一个关键焦点是了解不同物种和种群的交配模式是如何进化的。对交配行为的研究历来都集中在为什么雄性会进化出奢侈的特征上，但近年来，雌性交配行为更微妙的方面被发现了。传统上，女性被认为只交配一次（一雄制），以获得足够的精子繁殖。然而，现在很清楚，一妻多夫制是罕见的，女性通常与多个男性（一妻多夫制）交配。最近的研究表明，虽然一妻多夫的代价可能很高，但它也可以让女性生育更多的后代，而且一妻多夫的人口不太可能灭绝。然而，尽管我们知道雌性偏好可以推动雄性特征（如孔雀的尾巴）的进化变化，但我们仍然不知道是什么推动了不同雌性交配率的进化，以及为什么一雄制如此罕见。我提出的工作将促进我们对女性交配策略的理解，拓宽领域，询问女性交配系统如何以及为什么会改变。我将开发模拟模型（协作。布拉德·杜西博士）来推断生活在数十亿年前的第一个有性繁殖的生物体交配了多少次。这些模型将帮助我理解古代生物的交配模式是如何随着有性生殖而进化的，就不同性别（男性和女性）和内部受精（交配）的进化而言。然后，我将构建一个进化模型来研究一个新的物种群--寄生蜂--中雌性交配行为的更精细的尺度和更近期的变化。寄生蜂是重要的天敌，用于控制害虫物种，所以我们知道很多关于他们的行为，生理和遗传。特别是，寄生蜂的女性有不同的交配率在不同的物种，从无性（不交配），通过一妻多夫和一妻多夫。在整个寄生蜂的女性交配模式的多样性和知识将使我能够使用进化分析来估计何时以及为什么女性交配行为在过去发生了变化，以及这些变化是否驱动其他性状的进化。Sally Street）。作为一个例子，拟寄生蜂的性别比例有很大的变化;在一些物种中，超过90%的人口是女性。我预测，一妻多夫制将更普遍的物种与强烈的女性偏见的性别比例，使女性可以获得足够的精子繁殖。Christoph Vorburger教授）。我将在斯特林大学进行实验，建立由单雄、多雄和无性雌性组成的温室种群，然后改变性别比例，以限制或增加雄性的可用性。我将测量几代人的雌性交配率，以测试诸如交配限制之类的因素是否会导致不同雌性交配策略的频率变化。我的结果将揭示一妻多夫、一雄多夫或无性寄生蜂是否可能对灭绝威胁（如气候变化）更强大。这些研究结果也有重要的影响，控制害虫和入侵物种的寄生蜂，并可用于制定长期可持续的和具有成本效益的生物控制战略，以控制作物害虫和入侵物种。我建立的国际伙伴关系（Luc Bussiere博士，Bart Pannebakker博士）将促进我的研究结果向工业利益相关者的传播，以便我的见解可以融入政策。除了我的实验工作，我还将使用文献计量技术来分析研究论文，并调查如何整合新方法和更多样化的性别观点塑造了我们对女性交配行为的理解。