Experimental sexual selection affects the evolution of physiological and life history traits

Garlovsky, Martin D.; Holman, Luke; Brooks, Andrew L.; Novičić, Zorana Kurbalija; Snook, Rhonda R.

doi:10.1101/2021.03.23.436586

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(166 reference statements)

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“…This supplements other studies that have reported reduced sexual antagonism upon directly selecting for different levels male-male competition (Introduction). A recent study has reported divergence in life-history related traits (development time) between populations of D. pseudoobscura that were selected for adaptation to different mating systems (Garlovsky et al 2021), well complementing the work we report here. Our results show that selection on life-history related traits (development time and age at reproduction) could give rise to major changes in reproductive behaviour that indirectly affect sexual selection in D. melanogaster.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Similarly, Zajitschek et al (2009) demonstrated sexual dimorphism in age dependent patterns of survival and reproduction in the field cricket Teleogryllus commodus , likely due to differences is age-dependent reproductive strategies between males and females. Recently, evidence for the evolution of longer development times and decreased desiccation and starvation resistance in polyandrous D. pseudoobscura lines compared to monogamous lines has also been reported (Garlovsky et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations ofD. melanogastermight reduce sexual selection

Mital

Sarangi

Nandy

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The role of sexual selection in mediating levels of sexual conflict has been demonstrated in a number of experimental evolution studies on Drosophila sp. where the level of competition among males for fertilization success was under direct selection. Here we report that selection for a short development time and early age at reproduction can lead to inadvertent changes in levels of sexual selection in D. melanogaster populations, affecting reproductive competition experienced by males. We demonstrate that faster developing and early reproducing populations showed very low levels of mating in their lifetime (likely being monogamous), low courtship levels, shorter copulation duration and longer maturation time, compared to their ancestral controls. We discuss these results in light of the previously demonstrated reduction of sexual conflict in these populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations ofD. melanogastermight reduce sexual selection

Mital

Sarangi

Nandy

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…developmental, physiological, behavioral and life history characters (Lailvaux and Irschick, 2006;Cally et al, 2019;Garlovsky et al, 2022). Many studies have shown variation in sexually selected traits due to environmental heterogeneity (Cornwallis and Uller, 2010;Ingleby et al, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does good food make male mice sexy? The influence of diet on male sexually selected traits

Porwal,

Gangothri,

Agarwal

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Diet may have an important influence on life history and behavioral traits involved in sexual selection. Males of high condition should be better able to bear the costs of high trait expression and hence express more elaborate sexual signals. Here, we follow Mus musculus domesticus raised in semi-natural conditions across four generations of standard (SQ) versus high quality (HQ) food, containing a higher energy level and manufactured to boost body condition during reproduction. We investigate multivariate effects on life history, pre- and post-copulatory traits of males. In addition, we investigate the effects of a food switch in the third generation on trait expression. From the F3 generation on, HQ males were more dominant. This resulted in HQ males being preferred in mate choice even though no post-copulatory traits were affected, suggesting a condition-dependent allocation to different traits. Sons of food switched males showed reduced pre- but not post-copulatory trait expression, irrespective of the direction of the food switch, indicating a mismatch rather than adaptive plastic adjustments in the first generation. We conclude that males balance investment into different traits based on the diet to achieve similar fitness. Furthermore, we show that adaptive shifts in male reproductive strategies need several generations to emerge while first responses to changing environments reflect a constrained trait expression.

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Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations of D. melanogaster might reduce sexual selection

Mital

Sarangi

Nandy

et al. 2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The role of sexual selection in mediating levels of sexual conflict has been demonstrated in many experimental evolution studies on Drosophila spp. where competition among males for mating was the target of selection. Sexual selection has also been shown to affect the evolution of life-histories. However, the influence of divergent life-histories on reproductive strategies and, therefore, sexual selection and possibly sexual conflict has been less well studied. We examined D. melanogaster populations selected for a short development time and early age at reproduction for changes in reproductive behavior and traits that are proxies of sexual selection. We report a large reduction in reproductive competition experienced by the males of these populations, compared to ancestral populations that are not consciously selected for rapid development or early reproduction, potentially leading to reduced sexual selection. We show that rapidly developing and early reproducing populations have very low levels of mating in their lifetime (females are more or less monandrous), low courtship levels, shorter copulation duration, and longer time from eclosion to first mating, compared to the controls. These results are discussed in the context of the previously demonstrated reduction of inter-locus sexual conflict in these populations. We show that life-history strategies might have a large and significant impact on sexual selection, with each influencing the other and contributing to the complexities of adaptation. Significance statement Sexual conflict, often manifested as an arms-race between males and females trying to enhance their own reproductive success at some cost to the other, is of great evolutionary interest because it can maintain genetic variation in populations, prevent the independent optimization of male and female traits, and also promote speciation. Sexual selection, or variation in mating success, is well known to affect levels of sexual conflict. However, it is not so clear whether, and how, the regular evolution of life-histories also affects sexual selection. Here, we show that life-history evolution in fruit fly populations selected for traits not directly related to sexual conflict might, nevertheless, mediate the possible evolution of altered sexual conflict levels through effects on sexual selection. Populations that evolved to develop to adulthood fast, and reproduce relatively early in life, are shown to potentially experience less sexual selection, which can explain the low sexual conflict levels earlier observed in them.

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Experimental sexual selection affects the evolution of physiological and life history traits

Cited by 3 publications

References 66 publications

Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations ofD. melanogastermight reduce sexual selection

Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations ofD. melanogastermight reduce sexual selection

Does good food make male mice sexy? The influence of diet on male sexually selected traits

Shorter effective lifespan in laboratory populations of D. melanogaster might reduce sexual selection

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