Evolution of condition dependent sexual dimorphism in a clade of neotropical arachnids: a comparative analysis of the genic capture hypothesis

• Grant number: 15/06734-1
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Glauco Machado
• Grantee: Diogo Soares Menezes Samia
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although widely documented in nature, the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of sexual dimorphism are poorly understood. When genes encoding a sexually dimorphic trait are present in individuals of both sexes, the expression of this trait is subject to an intersexual genetic correlation that acts against the evolution of sexual dimorphism. The genic capture hypothesis provides a possible explanation for how the genetic architecture of a species can change and allow the evolution of sexual dimorphism. The genic capture hypothesis postulates that sexual dimorphism is the outcome of an epistasis between an ancestral locus (condition independent) expressed in both sexes and other loci affecting the efficiency of resource acquisition and allocation. The epistatic effect is hypothesized to be mediated by switch genes that respond to body condition and are expressed only in males. The objectives of this project will be to test two key predictions from the genic capture hypothesis using harvestman species of the subfamily Mitobatinae as model organisms. Prediction 1: more costly traits capture more condition-dependent variation than less costly traits. Prediction 2: genic capture may promote a breakdown of intersexual genetic correlations and permit males to develop traits far away from the females' phenotipic optimum. The results of this project will represent a major breakthrough by providing the first empirical test of the gene capture hypothesis using a comparative approach and including a large number of species. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SAMIA, DIOGO S. M.; BLUMSTEIN, DANIEL T.; DIAZ, MARIO; GRIM, TOMAS; DIEGO IBANEZ-ALAMO, JUAN; JOKIMAKI, JUKKA; TATTE, KUNTER; MARKO, GABOR; TRYJANOWSKI, PIOTR; MOLLER, ANDERS PAPE. Rural-Urban Differences in Escape Behavior of European Birds across a Latitudinal Gradient. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 5, JUN 26 2017. Web of Science Citations: 19.