Impact of male trait exaggeration on sex-biased gene expression and genome architecture in a water strider.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Exaggerated secondary sexual traits are widespread in nature and often evolve under strong directional sexual selection. Although heavily studied from both theoretical and empirical viewpoints, we have little understanding of how sexual selection influences sex-biased gene regulation during the development of exaggerated secondary sexual phenotypes, and how these changes are reflected in genomic architecture. This is primarily due to the limited availability of representative genomes and associated tissue and sex transcriptomes to study the development of these traits. Here we present the genome and developmental transcriptomes, focused on the legs, of the water strider Microvelia longipes, a species where males exhibit strikingly long third legs compared to females, whi

SUBMITTER: Toubiana W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8088084 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature