Identifying the genetic targets of sexual selection

性别选择会影响基因组差异，例如，性别偏向基因表达的基因往往是物种间差异最大的。这在性二型物种中有时更加明显，因此被认为反映了性选择的力量。目前，不同的(甚至是相反的)基因组分化模式可以被解释为支持性别选择和冲突对基因组分化的影响。这些模式的分辨率和可靠性一直备受争议，也不清楚。确认性选择的精确目标及其在基因组中留下的特征，对于理解这种形式的选择在进化分化和物种形成中的重要性至关重要。这项拟议的工作将通过利用一项确定了几个候选基因的实验性进化研究，为解决性选择如何影响基因类型做出特殊贡献。我们将完成功能遗传分析，以确认这些基因的作用，并测量基因敲除的适合度结果。然后，我们将把它提升到自然种群，并从一系列生态背景和进化分歧水平来评估自然种群中分歧的基因组签名的表现。这项工作将为性别选择在基因组分化中的作用提供前所未有的见解。

Sexual selection influences genomic divergence, for example genes which show sex-biased gene expression are often the most divergent between species. This is sometimes more pronounced in sexually dimorphic species and is therefore thought to reflect the strength of sexual selection. Currently different (even contrasting) patterns of genomic divergence can be interpreted as supporting an influence of sexual selection and conflict on genomic divergence. The resolution and reliability of such patterns is highly debated and unclear. Identifying the precise targets of sexual selection and the signature this leaves in the genome is critical to understanding the importance of this form of selection in evolutionary divergence and speciation. The proposed work will provide an exceptional contribution to resolving how sexual selection acts on genotypes, by leveraging an experimental evolution study which has identified several candidate genes. We will complete functional genetic analyses to confirm the role of these genes and measure the fitness consequences of gene knock outs. We will then upscale this to natural populations and assess the performance of genomic signatures of divergence in natural populations from a range of ecological contexts and levels of evolutionary divergence. This work will provide unprecedented insight into the role of sexual selection in genomic divergence.