eprintid: 1446530
rev_number: 11
eprint_status: archive
userid: 636
dir: disk0/01/44/65/30
datestamp: 2017-09-08 13:24:22
lastmod: 2017-09-08 13:24:22
status_changed: 2017-09-08 13:24:22
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
item_issues_count: 0
creators_name: Wigby, Stuart Lindsay
title: Sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster
ispublished: unpub
divisions: B02
note: Thesis digitised by ProQuest. Third party copyright material has been removed from the ethesis. Images identifying individuals have been redacted or partially redacted to protect their identity.
abstract: Conflicts between the sexes over mating and reproduction are common in many taxa. In Drosophila melanogaster sexual conflict over mating frequency occurs because male fitness is maximised by a higher mating frequency than that which maximises female fitness. In addition, females incur survival and reproductive costs from mating frequently. The female cost of mating is mediated by male accessory gland proteins (Acps), which are transferred to females in the seminal fluid of males during mating. Theory predicts that sexual conflict can lead to antagonistic coevolution between the sexes in which males evolve traits that benefit males but harm females and females evolve traits to minimise the extent of male-induced harm. This coevolution may be rapid and has the potential to promote speciation. In this thesis I used Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to investigate the evolution and genetics of sexual conflict. In Chapters 3 and 4 I used selection lines in which the level of sexual conflict had been experimentally manipulated. Chapter 3 describes how females in the selection lines adapted to the level of sexual conflict by evolving different levels of resistance to male-induced harm. Chapter 4 shows that the selected females did not differ in pre-mating resistance to males, suggesting instead that the resistance to male harm had evolved via post-mating changes. Chapter 5 describes how a single Acp, the sex peptide (SP), which reduces female receptivity and increases egg production after first matings, also causes female mating costs. Chapter 6 confirms that SP benefits males by increasing their post-mating reproductive success. Thus, SP benefits males but harms females suggesting that the SP gene underlies sexual conflict in D. melanogaster. Finally, Chapter 7 summarises the thesis and discusses future directions for investigating sexual conflict in Drosophila.
date: 2005-06-30
id_number: PQ ETD:602455
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
thesis_class: doctoral_open
language: eng
thesis_view: UCL_Thesis
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
full_text_status: public
pages: 182
institution: UCL (University College London)
department: Department of Biology
thesis_type: Doctoral
citation:        Wigby, Stuart Lindsay;      (2005)    Sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster.                   Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).     Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1446530/1/Wigby.Stuart_thesis.Redacted.pdf