Gender-Specific Fitness and Intersexual Developmental Conflict in a Fruit Fly (Drosophila) Model System

这项研究调查了自然选择可能导致性别特定功能障碍的过程。男性和女性需要完成不同的生物功能，但近90%的基因组在两性中表达。在最近的一项初步实验中，普通果蝇(黑腹果蝇)的整个基因组被克隆，然后相同基因组的相同拷贝在雄性和雌性身上表达。在女性中产生最高达尔文适合度的基因组在男性中适合度较低，反之亦然。这种两性间的颠倒表明，在果蝇的基因组中，一种性别喜欢而另一种性别不喜欢的基因是常见的。因为所有动物都表达许多相同的基因，所以观察到的两性间遗传冲突可能是普遍存在的。在拟议的研究中，细胞遗传学克隆将被用来测量：i)性拮抗遗传变异的功能意义，ii)它在染色体中的分布，iii)它在世代之间的传递动态，以及iv)调解两性间遗传冲突的特征。这些实验与介导特定性别损伤(例如，不孕不育)的遗传因素有关。在过去，人们一直认为有害的遗传变异完全是通过反复突变或遗传漂变来维持的。这项研究评估了导致性别特定功能障碍的基因多态的新来源。

This research investigates a process by which natural selection can lead to gender-specific dysfunction. Males and females need to accomplish different biological functions, yet nearly 90% of the genome is expressed in both sexes. In a recent pilot experiment the entire genome of the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) was cloned and then identical copies of the same genomes were expressed in both males and females. Genomes that produced the highest Darwinian fitness in females produced low fitness in males, and visa versa. This intersexual reversal suggests that genes that are favored in one sex and disfavored in the other sex are common in the genome of the fruit fly. Because all animals express many of the same genes, the observed intersexual genetic conflict may be widespread. In the proposed research cytogenetic cloning will be used to measure: i) the functional significance of sexually antagonistic genetic variation, ii) its distribution among chromosomes, iii) its transmission dynamics between generations, and iv) the traits that mediate intersexual genetic conflict. The experiments are relevant to hereditary factors that mediate gender-specific impairment (e.g., sterility). In the past it has been assumed that harmful genetic variation was maintained solely by recurrent mutation or genetic drift. This research evaluates a new source for the genetic polymorphisms that are responsible for gender-specific dysfunction.