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Male-biased gene expression resolves sexual conflict through the evolution of sex-specific genetic architecture

Wright, AE; Fumagalli, M; Cooney, CR; Bloch, NI; Vieira, FG; Buechel, SD; Kolm, N; (2018) Male-biased gene expression resolves sexual conflict through the evolution of sex-specific genetic architecture. Evolution Letters , 2 (2) pp. 52-61. 10.1002/evl3.39. Green open access

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Abstract

Many genes are subject to contradictory selection pressures in males and females, and balancing selection resulting from sexual conflict has the potential to substantially increase standing genetic diversity in populations and thereby act as an important force in adaptation. However, the underlying causes of sexual conflict, and the potential for resolution, remains hotly debated. Using transcriptome-resequencing data from male and female guppies, we use a novel approach, combining patterns of genetic diversity and intersexual divergence in allele frequency, to distinguish the different scenarios that give rise to sexual conflict, and how this conflict may be resolved through regulatory evolution. We show that reproductive fitness is the main source of sexual conflict, and this is resolved via the evolution of male-biased expression. Furthermore, resolution of sexual conflict produces significant differences in genetic architecture between males and females, which in turn lead to specific alleles influencing sex-specific viability. Together, our findings suggest an important role for sexual conflict in shaping broad patterns of genome diversity, and show that regulatory evolution is a rapid and efficient route to the resolution of conflict.

Type: Article
Title: Male-biased gene expression resolves sexual conflict through the evolution of sex-specific genetic architecture
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/evl3.39
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evl3.39
Language: English
Additional information: © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Balancing selection; gene expression; population genetics; sexual conflict
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10042038
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