Evolution最新文献

Our understanding of the evolution of social mating systems is largely based on an atemporal ecological framework, whereas macroevolutionary and phylogenetic perspectives looking at the causes of mating systems variation are less developed. Here, we present analyses of the evolution of social mating systems in birds at an unprecedented scale, including 66% of the world's birds and using trait-dependent speciation and extinction models. We found that lekking (no social bond between the sexes) is very rarely lost, in accordance with the hypothesis that a male shifting to investing in one rather than multiple mates would suffer a severe fitness cost. In contrast, resource-defense polygamous lineages (with a weak, transient socio-sexual bond) frequently revert back to monogamy (strong, durable socio-sexual bond) and have an elevated extinction fraction. We tentatively attribute this to the impossibility for females to settle on an optimal parental care strategy under this system. Finally, we found that most gains of lekking have been directly from monogamy, rather than through an intermediate stage of resource-defense polygamy.

Wedell and Kemp ([2024]. Examined the importance of female sexual preferences for male UV reflectance on offspring viability and the evolution of male traits in the butterfly Eurema hecabe. Female preferences were found to have multiple consequences, including increased trait value, higher offspring viability, and reduced mutational load. These findings highlight that female sexual preferences for specific male traits can also have further consequences for individual fitness and evolution of specific morphological characteristics.

Advancing male age is often hypothesized to reduce both male fertility and offspring quality due to reproductive senescence. However, the effects of advancing male age on reproductive output and offspring quality are not always deleterious. For example, older fathers might buffer the effects of reproductive senescence by terminally investing in reproduction. Similarly, males that survive to reproduce at an old age might carry alleles that confer high viability (viability selection), which are then inherited by offspring, or might have high reproductive potential (selective disappearance). Differentiating these mechanisms requires an integrated experimental study of paternal survival and reproductive performance, as well as offspring quality, which is currently lacking. Using a cross-sectional study in Drosophila melanogaster, we test the effects of paternal age at conception (PAC) on paternal survival and reproductive success, and on the lifespans of sons. We discover that mating at an old age is linked with decreased future male survival, suggesting that mating-induced mortality is possibly due to old fathers being frail. We find no evidence for terminal investment and show that reproductive senescence in fathers does not onset until their late-adult life. Additionally, we find that as a father's lifespan increases, his probability of siring offspring increases for older PAC treatments only. Lastly, we show that sons born to older fathers live longer than those born to younger fathers due to viability selection. Collectively, our results suggest that advancing paternal age is not necessarily associated with deleterious effects for offspring and may even lead to older fathers producing longer-lived offspring.

The faster-Z/X hypothesis predicts that sex-linked genes should diverge faster than autosomal genes. However, studies across different lineages have shown mixed support for this effect. So far, most analyses have focused on old and well-differentiated sex chromosomes, but less is known about the divergence of more recently acquired neo-sex chromosomes. In Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), Z-autosome fusions are frequent, but the evolutionary dynamics of neo-Z chromosomes have not been explored in detail. Here, we analyzed the faster-Z effect in Leptidea sinapis, a butterfly with three Z chromosomes. We show that the neo-Z chromosomes have been acquired stepwise, resulting in strata of differentiation and masculinization. While all Z chromosomes showed evidence of the faster-Z effect, selection for genes on the youngest neo-Z chromosome (Z3) appears to have been hampered by a largely intact, homologous neo-W chromosome. However, the intermediately aged neo-Z chromosome (Z2), which lacks W gametologs, showed fewer evolutionary constraints, resulting in particularly fast evolution. Our results therefore support that neo-sex chromosomes can constitute temporary hot-spots of adaptation and divergence. The underlying dynamics are likely causally linked to shifts in selective constraints, evolution of gene expression, and degeneration of W-linked gametologs which gradually expose Z-linked genes to selection.

Without heritable variation natural selection cannot effect evolutionary change. In the case of group selection, there must be variation in the population of groups. Where does this variation come from? One source of variation is from the stochastic birth-death processes that occur within groups. This is where variation between groups comes from in most mathematical models of group selection. Here, we argue that another important source of variation between groups is fission, the (generally random) group-level reproduction where parent groups split into two or more offspring groups. We construct a simple model of the fissioning process with a parameter that controls how much variation is produced among the offspring groups. We then illustrate the effect of that parameter with some examples. In most models of group selection in the literature, no variation is produced during group reproduction events; that is, groups "clone" themselves when they reproduce. Fission is often a more biologically realistic method of group reproduction, and it can significantly increase the efficacy of group selection.

Hybrid zones are dynamic systems where natural selection, sexual selection, and other evolutionary forces can act on reshuffled combinations of distinct genomes. The movement of hybrid zones, individual traits, or both are of particular interest for understanding the interplay between selective processes. In a hybrid zone involving two lek-breeding birds, secondary sexual plumage traits of Manacus vitellinus, including bright yellow collar and olive belly color, have introgressed ~50 km asymmetrically across the genomic center of the zone into populations more genetically similar to Manacus candei. Males with yellow collars are preferred by females and are more aggressive than parental M. candei, suggesting that sexual selection was responsible for the introgression of male traits. We assessed the spatial and temporal dynamics of this hybrid zone using historical (1989-1994) and contemporary (2017-2020) transect samples to survey both morphological and genetic variation. Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data and several male phenotypic traits show that the genomic center of the zone has remained spatially stable, whereas the olive belly color of male M. vitellinus has continued to introgress over this time period. Our data suggest that sexual selection can continue to shape phenotypes dynamically, independent of a stable genomic transition between species.

Adaptation to new habitats might facilitate species' range shifts in response to climate change. In 2005, we transplanted experimental populations of coastal dune plant Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia into 4 sites within and 1 site beyond its poleward range limit. Beyond-range transplants had high fitness but often delayed reproduction. To test for adaptation associated with experimental range expansion, we transplanted descendants from beyond- and within-range populations after 10 generations in situ into 2 sites within the range, 1 at the range edge, and 2 sites beyond the range. We expected to detect adaptation to beyond-range conditions due to substantial genetic variation within experimental populations and environmental variation among sites. However, individuals from beyond-range experimental populations were not fitter than those from within the range when planted at either beyond-range site, indicating no adaptation to the beyond-range site or beyond-range environments in general. Beyond-range descendants also did not suffer lower fitness within the range. Although reproduction was again delayed beyond the range, late reproduction was not favored more strongly beyond than within the range, and beyond-range descendants did not delay reproduction more than within-range descendants. Persistence in beyond-range environments may not require adaptation, which could allow a rapid response to climate change.

How sex chromosomes evolve compared to autosomes remains an unresolved question in population genetics. Most studies focus on only a handful of taxa, resulting in uncertainty over whether observed patterns reflect general processes or idiosyncrasies in particular clades. For example, in female heterogametic (ZW) systems, bird Z chromosomes tend to evolve quickly but not adaptively, while in Lepidopterans they evolve adaptively, but not always quickly. To understand how these observations fit into broader evolutionary patterns, we explore Z chromosome evolution outside of these two well-studied clades. We utilize a publicly available genome, gene expression, population, and outgroup data in the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis, an important agricultural pest copepod. We find that the Z chromosome is faster evolving than autosomes, but that this effect is driven by increased drift rather than adaptive evolution. Due to high rates of female reproductive failure, the Z chromosome exhibits a slightly lower effective population size than the autosomes which is nonetheless to decrease efficiency of hemizygous selection acting on the Z. These results highlight the usefulness of organismal life history in calibrating population genetic expectations and demonstrate the value of the ever-expanding wealth of publicly available data to help resolve outstanding evolutionary questions.

Although COVID-19 is no longer classified as a pandemic, variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to arise. It is critical to understand how changes in viral characteristics, public policy, and behavior affect disease load and mortality. An analysis by Otto et al. (2024) shows that changes in transmission rate and immunological properties have differing effects on disease load, even among variants with similar selective advantages. The impact of various strategies aimed at countering disease spread is also analyzed.

Populations living in cities face challenges from these novel environments that are expected to drive evolutionary adaptation. Do separate populations of a species living in different cities show similar adaptations to the selection pressures imposed by urban environments? Diamant and Yeh (2024) address this question by comparing the morphological characteristics of dark-eyed juncos in 3 California cities to non-urban junco morphologies. They find that wing size is consistently smaller in more urbanized environments regardless of the population, but bill size tends to vary between urban populations.