Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Elife. 2020 Feb 21;9:e53237. doi: 10.7554/eLife.53237.
The pervasive occurrence of sexual dimorphism demonstrates different adaptive strategies of males and females. While different reproductive strategies of the two sexes are well-characterized, very little is known about differential functional requirements of males and females in their natural habitats. Here, we study the impact environmental change on the selection response in both sexes. Exposing replicated populations to a novel temperature regime, we demonstrate sex-specific changes in gene expression, metabolic and behavioral phenotypes in less than 100 generations. This indicates not only different functional requirements of both sexes in the new environment but also rapid sex-specific adaptation. Supported by computer simulations we propose that altered sex-biased gene regulation from standing genetic variation, rather than new mutations, is the driver of rapid sex-specific adaptation. Our discovery of environmentally driven divergent functional requirements of males and females has important implications-possibly even for gender aware medical treatments.
性二型现象普遍存在，表明了男性和女性具有不同的适应策略。尽管两性之间不同的生殖策略已经得到很好的描述，但对于在其自然栖息地中男性和女性的不同功能需求却知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了环境变化对两性选择反应的影响。通过将复制的种群暴露在新的温度环境中，我们在不到 100 代的时间里证明了两性在基因表达、代谢和行为表型上的性别特异性变化。这不仅表明了两性在新环境中的不同功能需求，也表明了两性的快速特异性适应。通过计算机模拟，我们提出了从现有遗传变异中改变的性别偏向性基因调控，而不是新的突变，是快速性别特异性适应的驱动力。我们发现环境驱动的雄性和雌性功能需求的差异具有重要意义——甚至可能对具有性别意识的医疗治疗有影响。
