EVOGOODGENES: Deciphering the genomics and evolution of honest sexual signals

性选择是整个动物界一些最引人注目的形态和行为特征进化的原因。这些性选择特征中的许多被认为是男性遗传质量的真实信号，只有条件好、基因好的男性才能买得起精致的装饰品。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有争议的问题仍然没有得到回答，例如性选择在表型细化、分子进化和适应中的作用。回答这些问题是具有挑战性的，因为我们需要对一系列生物体中诚实的性别选择特征的基因组基础有准确的了解。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纪元。EvoGoodGenes旨在利用最先进的测序技术来测试经典的性别选择理论，以确定不同的男性和女性特征是如何进化的。EvoGoodGenes的重点是茎眼苍蝇及其高度夸张和性别二态的眼柄。该项目由三个主要目标组成，每个目标都解决了性别选择的“好基因”理论的一个关键支柱。我将确定诚实信号的基因组基础和“好基因”的本质，确定性别选择如何作用于诚实的特征，并测试相同的基因组机制是否负责在深度分化的物种中发出诚实信号。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的理解的新境界。

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.