EVOGOODGENES: Deciphering the genomics and evolution of honest sexual signals

性选择是动物王国中一些最引人注目的形态和行为特征进化的原因。许多这些性选择的特征被认为是男性遗传质量的真实信号，只有具有“良好基因”的高条件男性才能负担得起精心装饰的费用。然而，产生诚实的性信号并使其进化的基因在很大程度上是未知的。因此，性选择和进化的核心问题仍然没有答案，例如性选择在表型加工，分子进化和适应中的作用。回答这些问题是具有挑战性的，因为我们需要精确了解一系列生物体中诚实的性选择特征的基因组基础。然而，解构复杂表型以提供单细胞表达数据的新技术现在为探索性特征的基因组基础和进化提供了前所未有的潜力，预示着性选择研究的新时代。EvoGoodGenes旨在利用最先进的测序技术来测试经典的性选择理论，以了解不同的男性和女性特征是如何进化的。EvoGoodGenes的重点是茎眼苍蝇和他们高度夸张和性别二态的眼柄。该项目由三个总体目标组成，每个目标都涉及性选择的“好基因”理论的关键支柱。我将确定诚实信号的基因组基础和“好基因”的性质，建立性选择如何作用于诚实的特征，并测试是否相同的基因组机制负责诚实的信号在深深分歧的物种。这些目标将通过结合实验，比较和单细胞测序方法来实现，并在多个进化水平上进行，整合种群内和跨物种的模式，以打破我们对性选择理解的新领域。

Sexual selection is responsible for the evolution of some of the most striking morphological and behavioural traits across the animal kingdom. Many of these sexually selected traits are thought to act as honest signals of male genetic quality, where only high condition males with 'good genes' can afford to invest in elaborate ornaments. However, the genes that give rise to honest sexual signals and enable their evolution are largely unknown. As such, contentious questions central to sexual selection and evolution remain unanswered, such as the role of sexual selection in phenotypic elaboration, molecular evolution and adaptation. Answering these questions is challenging as we require a precise understanding of the genomic basis of honest sexually selected traits across a range of organisms. However, new technology that deconstructs complex phenotypes to provide single-cell expression data now offers unprecedented potential to probe the genomic basis and evolution of sexual traits, heralding a new era of sexual selection research. EvoGoodGenes is designed to capitalise on state-of-the-art sequencing technology to test classic sexual selection theory for how distinct male and female traits evolve. The focus of EvoGoodGenes is on stalk-eyed flies and their highly-exaggerated and sexually-dimorphic eye-stalks. The project is comprised of three overarching goals, each of which addresses a key pillar of the 'good genes' theory of sexual selection. I will identify the genomic basis of honest signals and the nature of 'good genes', establish how sexual selection acts on honest traits and test if the same genomic mechanisms are responsible for honest signalling across deeply diverged species. These goals will be accomplished by combining experimental, comparative and single-cell sequencing approaches and performed across multiple evolutionary levels, integrating patterns within populations and across species, to break new frontiers in our understanding of sexual selection.