Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yuying Lin, Iulia Darolti, Benjamin L. S. Furman, Pedro Almeida, Benjamin A. Sandkam, Felix Breden, Alison E. Wright, Judith E. Mank
Summary: Differences in allele frequencies between sexual and autosomal genes can be caused by sexual conflict or sequence similarity. Through studying the guppy genome, it was found that only a few genes show evidence of sexual conflict, suggesting that the Y chromosome may accumulate genes with male-specific functions.
Article
Ecology
Isabela L. Borges, Jillian C. Dangerfield, Lisa M. Angeloni, W. Chris Funk, Sarah W. Fitzpatrick
Summary: This study used spatially explicit data from a multi-generational study of Trinidadian guppies along with pedigrees to investigate the relationship between dispersal and reproduction. The results showed a positive correlation between dispersal propensity and distance with number of mates and number of offspring, especially for males, and highlighted individual and environmental variation in dispersal influenced by factors such as sex, size, season, and stream.
Article
Biology
Thomas M. Houslay, Ryan L. Earley, Stephen J. White, Wiebke Lammers, Andrew J. Grimmer, Laura M. Travers, Elizabeth L. Johnson, Andrew J. Young, Alastair Wilson
Summary: The vertebrate stress response, which comprises a suite of behavioural and physiological traits, is functionally integrated and genetically correlated. A study on Trinidadian guppies shows that the acute stress response components are heritable and integrated on a major axis of genetic covariation. This integration could either facilitate or constrain evolutionary responses to selection. Artificial selection on genetically correlated behavioural responses to stress may offer a non-invasive route to improve health and welfare in captive animal populations.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xuefu Li, Jun Wang, Wanyu Ba, Suqiu Zhang, Zhenxian Lin, Ming Gao, Hua Tian, Shaoguo Ru
Summary: The study reveals that (PS)2 can disrupt the reproductive behavior of male guppies by suppressing their sexual interest in females, reducing competitive behavior frequencies, and decreasing mating time and frequency. Exposure to (PS)2 does not affect male guppies' secondary sexual characteristics or induce estrogenic activity. Transcriptome sequencing identified activation of ECM-receptor interaction and focal adhesion pathways as potential underlying molecular mechanisms in the impairment of reproductive behavior induced by (PS)2.
Article
Biology
David Bierbach, Ronja Wenchel, Stefan Gehrig, Serafina Wersing, Olivia L. O'Connor, Jens Krause
Summary: Through two experiments, we found that male guppies prefer females with higher swimming activity levels as mating partners, which may be related to individual quality, health or reproductive state.
Article
Biology
Yesbol Manat, Katrine K. Lund-Hansen, Georgios Katsianis, Jessica K. Abbott
Summary: This study demonstrates that intralocus sexual conflict can occur in males of Drosophila due to the evolution of the X-chromosome, leading to trade-offs between attractiveness and sperm competitiveness. The evolved X-chromosomes in males showed a small net reduction in overall fitness, indicating selection through intralocus sexual conflict.
Review
Ecology
Locke Rowe, Howard D. Rundle
Summary: Sexual selection can potentially decrease the mean fitness of a population through costs to nonsexual fitness, but this can be offset when individuals with high nonsexual fitness are favored. Research suggests that a net benefit is more likely when sexually concordant genetic variation is enhanced and that ecological context can mediate the effects. Comparative studies on the consequences of sexual selection for population persistence do not indicate a benefit, making it challenging to interpret these higher-level responses.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS, VOL 52, 2021
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Yusan Yang, Eleanor Grant, Andres Lopez-Sepulcre, Swanne P. Gordon
Summary: Sexual harassment is a common outcome of sexual conflict, and females often change their behaviors to avoid unwanted attention. In Trinidadian guppies, males use either sneak mating behavior or courtship displays as reproductive tactics. In low-predation habitats, males use courtship more and sneak behavior less, and female foraging strategy coevolves with less severe male harassment. Our study found that both sneak behavior and courtship display reduced female foraging, but sneak behavior had a greater effect, particularly on high-predation females.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Jon Alexander Harper, Tim Janicke, Edward H. Morrow
Summary: A review found that there are 22 genes in humans with sex-opposite effects, which may increase disease risk or severity in one sex but protect the other, with genes having net positive effects occurring at higher frequencies. The communication barriers between fields due to discipline-specific terminology are significant.
Review
Ecology
Jon Alexander Harper, Edward H. H. Morrow
Summary: Sexual antagonism is an important selective force in evolution, but the genes involved in this process are not well-studied. The lack of overlap in terminology between scientific disciplines may contribute to the limited knowledge of these genes. In this study, we systematically searched for genes with sexually antagonistic effects in various taxa, but only found a small number of candidate variants. The studies generally suffered from small sample sizes, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. Our review highlights the different effects that gene deletions can have on males and females, and suggests that beneficial effects in one sex may facilitate the evolution of gene loss.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Annika Boussard, Stephanie Edlund, Stephanie Fong, David Wheatcroft, Niclas Kolm
Summary: Over recent decades, substantial research has focused on fish cognitive evolution. One important but understudied aspect is sexual dimorphism in cognitive abilities. This study investigates whether increases in telencephalon size affect cognitive abilities differently in males and females. The results suggest no clear sex-specific effects in response to selection of telencephalon size.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Evan Mitchell, Andrea L. Graham, Francisco Ubeda, Geoff Wild
Summary: Women generally exhibit stronger immune responses and pathogens tend to be more virulent in men, which current explanations cannot account for. This study proposes an alternative explanation based on the transmission of pathogens from mother to child, using a mathematical model of the co-evolution of host immunocompetence and pathogen virulence.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Alihan Katlav, James M. Cook, Markus Riegler
Summary: The study found that larger eggs are more likely to be fertilized and develop into female offspring, while smaller eggs are more likely to remain unfertilized and become male offspring. Mating increases female investment in egg size, enhancing fertilization success and female offspring survival but reducing lifetime fecundity. This suggests a reproductive strategy favoring increased daughter production, potentially conflicting with the optimal offspring sex ratio.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Katrine K. Lund-Hansen, Colin Olito, Edward H. Morrow, Jessica K. Abbott
Summary: Antagonistic interactions between the sexes are important drivers of evolutionary divergence. When loci under interlocus sexual conflict are located on the sex chromosomes, it can lead to cycles of antagonistic coevolution between them and therefore between the sexes. Experimental crosses using Drosophila melanogaster showed that disrupting putatively coevolved sex chromosome pairs resulted in increased male reproductive success but also in lower offspring viability, with these sexually antagonistic fitness effects appearing to be resolved after 25 generations of experimental evolution. Population genetic models of antagonistic coevolution based on empirical results support the conclusion that antagonistic coevolution between the sex chromosomes is plausible and may drive genetic and phenotypic divergence between populations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Philipp Kaufmann, Matthew E. Wolak, Arild Husby, Elina Immonen
Summary: The evolution of sexual body size dimorphism in seed beetles primarily depends on female additive genetic variance linked to autosomes, with a strong intersexual genetic correlation with males. Sexual dimorphism evolved in response to male-limited and sexually antagonistic selection, but not under female-limited selection. Y-linked genes alone could change dimorphism significantly, despite the small size and heterochromatin nature of the Y chromosome in C. maculatus.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marta Callejas-Diaz, M. Regina Chambel, Javier San-Martin-Loren, Guillermo Gea-Izquierdo, Luis Santos-Del-Blanco, Erik Postma, Jose M. Climent
Summary: This study examined the effects of maternal age, growth, and environmental conditions on seed mass and subsequent germination and early survival in a highly serotinous population of Pinus pinaster. The results suggest that seed mass is influenced by maternal age and growth, with implications for germination success and early survival. These findings highlight the importance of maternal conditions and seed mass in shaping seedling establishment, providing new insights into the offspring performance linked to long-term canopy seed banks.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Boris Yagound, Andrea J. West, Mark F. Richardson, Daniel Selechnik, Richard Shine, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying behavioral changes in invasive species during range expansion is crucial in invasion biology. In this study, researchers used RNA-seq to compare the brain transcriptomes of cane toads from different populations across Australia. They found marked differences in gene expression profiles between the source population and Australian toads, suggesting potential genetic factors underlying the toads' dispersal ability. Key genes related to dispersal behavior showed differential expression between populations located at each end of the invasive range. These findings provide insights into the genetic basis of the behavioral changes associated with range expansion in Australian cane toads.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katarina C. Stuart, William B. Sherwin, Jeremy J. Austin, Melissa Bateson, Marcel Eens, Matthew C. Brandley, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: During the Anthropocene, habitat loss, climate change, species migration and invasion have significantly affected the Earth. This study focused on the common starling and found evidence of parallel and divergent evolutionary changes between the native and invasive populations, highlighting the importance of adaptation in both ranges. Including historical samples in genetic studies of invasion proved valuable in understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of species' persistence or perish in new or changing environments.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Katarina C. Stuart, William B. Sherwin, Adam P. A. Cardilini, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: This study uses reduced representation sequencing data and phenotypic data to examine the heritability of important phenotypic traits in invasive starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Australia and determine the role of environmental variables in shaping genetic and phenotypic patterns.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Family Studies
Ella Ziegler, Erik Postma, Katarina L. Matthes, Joel Floris, Kaspar Staub
Summary: This study examines the association between body height, BMI, and other factors with lifespan, using Glarus, Switzerland as a case study. The research found that there are differences in height and estimated BMI based on socioeconomic status and goitre status, and identified a positive correlation between body height and lifespan.
HISTORY OF THE FAMILY
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Katarina C. Stuart, Natalie R. Hofmeister, Julia M. Zichello, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: The Common or European Starling is a highly successful invasive bird species that has been introduced to various regions around the world. By studying its life history and genomic variation, we are able to understand how eco-evolutionary dynamics contribute to its invasion success. Comparing Australian and North American invasions is particularly informative, as they both colonized new ranges concurrently and exhibit shared signals of selection despite different population histories.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Katharina J. Peters, Livia Gerber, Luca Scheu, Riccardo Cicciarella, Joseph A. Zoller, Zhe Fei, Steve Horvath, Simon J. Allen, Stephanie L. King, Richard C. Connor, Lee Ann Rollins, Michael Krutzen
Summary: The use of epigenetic clocks allows accurate age determination and sex prediction for Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, providing a non-invasive method for extracting life history information.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Katarina C. Stuart, William B. Sherwin, Richard J. Edwards, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: Two fundamental questions in evolutionary studies are the speed of evolution and its manifestation in an organism's genome. Research on invasive populations, such as the invasive European starlings in Australia, can provide insight into the mechanisms behind rapid adaptation and population persistence in novel environments. Recent developments in experimental and sequencing technologies have facilitated the investigation of these questions, particularly with the accessibility of next generation sequencing.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katarina C. Stuart, Richard J. Edwards, William B. Sherwin, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: This study examines the genetic diversity within the invasive European starling and finds that structural variants can have a complex impact on adaptation under new selection regimes, and their effects do not always align with SNP diversity.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Euan A. A. Young, Ellie Chesterton, Virpi Lummaa, Erik Postma, Hannah L. L. Dugdale
Summary: A study found that an individual's reproductive success can not only predict its genetic contributions to the next generation, but also has value in predicting genetic contributions over longer periods. The study also revealed that reproductive success is a better predictor of individual genetic contributions than other fitness proxies and lifespan.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Lee A. Rollins, Daniel Lees, Andrew P. Woolnough, Andrea J. West, Michael Perry, David M. Forsyth
Summary: Using genetic data, this study found that sambar deer in Australia and New Zealand are genetically more similar to those in the west of their native range. Although genetic diversity is lower in the introduced populations, they still harbor unique genetic variants that could be used to strengthen genetic diversity in the native range.
Article
Ecology
Erin Hill, Nicholas Murphy, Scarlett Li-Williams, Christopher Davies, David Forsyth, Sebastien Comte, Lee Ann Rollins, Fiona Hogan, Faye Wedrowicz, Troy Crittle, Elaine Thomas, Luke Woodford, Carlo Pacioni
Summary: Introduced sambar and rusa deer populations in south-eastern Australia are subject to local control efforts. It is important to understand dispersal capability, population structure, and hybridisation rates for effective management. Genetic analysis reveals distinct management units and limited dispersal.
Article
Ecology
Scarlett Li-Williams, Katarina C. Stuart, Sebastien Comte, David M. Forsyth, Michelle Dawson, William B. Sherwin, Lee A. Rollins
Summary: The aim of this study was to investigate the population structure of rusa deer in the Illawarra region of New South Wales and determine the effects of landscape features on gene flow. The results showed that genetic diversity was highest near the original introduction site, and a railway line restricted gene flow. Surprisingly, the Illawarra escarpment did not limit gene flow, and there was no evidence of sex-biased dispersal.
Article
Ecology
Euan A. Young, Erik Postma
Summary: This study investigates the interspecific variation in additive genetic variance and finds some variation in heritability but little variation in additive genetic variance among species. The results suggest that interspecific variation in adaptive potential of wild vertebrate populations may be small, but our understanding is limited by data constraints and uncertainties in CVA estimates.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Harrison J. F. Eyck, Gregory P. Brown, Lee A. Rollins, Richard Shine
Summary: This study investigates a host-parasite system and finds differences in host resistance between different populations. The chemical cues from toad skin altered parasite behavior, but the number of infection attempts did not differ between populations. The success rate of infection was higher for the range-edge toads, indicating that their lower resistance is due to less effective immune defenses.
