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Increased male-induced harm in response to female-limited selection: interactive effects between intra- and interlocus sexual conflict?

ABSTRACT: Interlocus sexual conflict (IRSC) occurs because of shared interactions that have opposite effects on male and female fitness. Typically, it is assumed that loci involved in IRSC have sex-limited expression and are thus not directly affected by selective pressures acting on the other sex. However, if loci involved in IRSC have pleiotropic effects in the other sex, intersexual selection can shape the evolutionary dynamics of conflict escalation and resolution, as well as the evolution of reproductive traits linked to IRSC loci, and vice versa. Here we used an artificial selection approach in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) to test if female-limited selection on reproductive investment affects the amount of harm caused by males during mating. We found that males originating from lines selected for high female reproductive investment caused more oxidative damage in the female reproductive tract than males originating from lines selected for low female reproductive investment. This male-induced damage was specific to the oviduct and not found in other female tissues, suggesting that it was ejaculate-mediated. Our results suggest that intersexual selection shapes the evolution of IRSC and that male-induced harm may contribute to the maintenance of variation in female reproductive investment.

SUBMITTER: Romero-Haro AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10130724 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Increased male-induced harm in response to female-limited selection: interactive effects between intra- and interlocus sexual conflict?

Romero-Haro Ana Ángela AÁ Pérez-Rodríguez Lorenzo L Tschirren Barbara B

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20230426 1997

Interlocus sexual conflict (IRSC) occurs because of shared interactions that have opposite effects on male and female fitness. Typically, it is assumed that loci involved in IRSC have sex-limited expression and are thus not directly affected by selective pressures acting on the other sex. However, if loci involved in IRSC have pleiotropic effects in the other sex, intersexual selection can shape the evolutionary dynamics of conflict escalation and resolution, as well as the evolution of reproduc ...[more]

PMID: 37122249

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Project description:AbstractSexual dimorphism in somatic investment may be shaped by two distinct forms of sexual conflict; under intralocus sexual conflict (IASC), males and females have different optimal levels of somatic investment but are constrained from reaching their respective optima by their shared genome, while under interlocus sexual conflict (IRSC), males and females have different optimal sexual strategies, which could have direct or indirect effects on levels of somatic investment. We investigated effects of IASC and IRSC on two aspects of somatic investment, immune defence strategies and longevity, using previously established female-limited experimental evolution lines in Drosophila melanogaster. We found little evidence for any effect of either type of sexual conflict on investment in the immune defence resistance or tolerance. Nor did we find convincing evidence that longevity is subject to IASC in this species. However, we did find evidence that increased female control over mating rate had important and opposite effects on longevity between the sexes. Specifically, females that had adapted to high levels of female control over mating had a longer lifespan when kept in mixed-sex groups, while males had shorter longevity, perhaps due to increased investment in post-copulatory sexual selection. These novel results show that female control over mating rates may have important and unexpected effects on patterns of somatic investment.Significance statementSexual conflict occurs between the two sexes over numerous life history traits, and it is complex to disentangle how these traits interact and affect each other. Here we use a long-term evolution experiment to investigate sexual dimorphism in somatic maintenance. We found no effect of feminising the X chromosome on female immune defence. However, we did find that increased female control over mating rate resulted in longer female lifespan, but reduced male lifespan, and that these effects were dependent on social context (isolated or in mixed-sex groups). Unlike previous studies on the effect of sexual conflict on longevity, our experiment did not manipulate environmental conditions nor the adult sex ratio, which is likely to reduce both pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00265-022-03231-4.

Project description:BackgroundInterlocus conflict predicts (a) evolution of traits, beneficial to males but detrimental to females and (b) evolution of aging and life-span under the influence of the cost of bearing these traits. However, there are very few empirical investigations shedding light on these predictions. Those that do address these issues, mostly reported response of male reproductive traits or the lack of it and do not address the life-history consequence of such evolution. Here, we test both the above mentioned predictions using experimental evolution on replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster. We present responses observed after >45 generations of altered levels of interlocus conflict (generated by varying the operational sex ratio).ResultsMales from the male biased (high conflict, M-regime) regime evolved higher spontaneous locomotor activity and courtship frequency. Females exposed to these males were found to have higher mortality rate. Males from the female biased regime (low conflict, F-regime) did not evolve altered courtship frequency and activity. However, progeny production of females continuously exposed to F-males was significantly higher than the progeny production of females exposed to M-males indicating that the F-males are relatively benign towards their mates. We found that males from male biased regime lived shorter compared to males from the female biased regime.ConclusionF-males (evolving under lower levels of sexual conflict) evolved decreased mate harming ability indicating the cost of maintenance of the suit of traits that cause mate-harm. The M-males (evolving under higher levels sexual conflict) caused higher female mortality indicating that they had evolved increased mate harming ability, possibly as a by product of increased reproduction related activity. There was a correlated evolution of life-history of the M and F-males. M-regime males lived shorter compared to the males from F-regime, possibly due to the cost of investing more in reproductive traits. In combination, these results suggest that male reproductive traits and life-history traits can evolve in response to the altered levels of interlocus sexual conflict.

Dataset Information

Increased male-induced harm in response to female-limited selection: interactive effects between intra- and interlocus sexual conflict?

Publications

Increased male-induced harm in response to female-limited selection: interactive effects between intra- and interlocus sexual conflict?

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