The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation

Puixeu Sala G. 2023. The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.

Download
OA PhDThesis_PuixeuG.pdf 19.86 MB [Published Version]

Thesis | PhD | Published | English

Corresponding author has ISTA affiliation

Series Title
ISTA Thesis
Abstract
Females and males across species are subject to divergent selective pressures arising from di↵erent reproductive interests and ecological niches. This often translates into a intricate array of sex-specific natural and sexual selection on traits that have a shared genetic basis between both sexes, causing a genetic sexual conflict. The resolution of this conflict mostly relies on the evolution of sex-specific expression of the shared genes, leading to phenotypic sexual dimorphism. Such sex-specific gene expression is thought to evolve via modifications of the genetic networks ultimately linked to sex-determining transcription factors. Although much empirical and theoretical evidence supports this standard picture of the molecular basis of sexual conflict resolution, there still are a few open questions regarding the complex array of selective forces driving phenotypic di↵erentiation between the sexes, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying sexspecific adaptation. I address some of these open questions in my PhD thesis. First, how do patterns of phenotypic sexual dimorphism vary within populations, as a response to the temporal and spatial changes in sex-specific selective forces? To tackle this question, I analyze the patterns of sex-specific phenotypic variation along three life stages and across populations spanning the whole geographical range of Rumex hastatulus, a wind-pollinated angiosperm, in the first Chapter of the thesis. Second, how do gene expression patterns lead to phenotypic dimorphism, and what are the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed transcriptomic variation? I address this question by examining the sex- and tissue-specific expression variation in newly-generated datasets of sex-specific expression in heads and gonads of Drosophila melanogaster. I additionally used two complementary approaches for the study of the genetic basis of sex di↵erences in gene expression in the second and third Chapters of the thesis. Third, how does intersex correlation, thought to be one of the main aspects constraining the ability for the two sexes to decouple, interact with the evolution of sexual dimorphism? I develop models of sex-specific stabilizing selection, mutation and drift to formalize common intuition regarding the patterns of covariation between intersex correlation and sexual dimorphism in the fourth Chapter of the thesis. Alltogether, the work described in this PhD thesis provides useful insights into the links between genetic, transcriptomic and phenotypic layers of sex-specific variation, and contributes to our general understanding of the dynamics of sexual dimorphism evolution.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2023-08-15
Publisher
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Page
230
ISSN
IST-REx-ID

Cite this

Puixeu Sala G. The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation. 2023. doi:10.15479/at:ista:14058
Puixeu Sala, G. (2023). The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:14058
Puixeu Sala, Gemma. “The Molecular Basis of Sexual Dimorphism: Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Phenotypic, Transcriptomic and Genetic Patterns of Sex-Specific Adaptation.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2023. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:14058.
G. Puixeu Sala, “The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2023.
Puixeu Sala G. 2023. The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism: Experimental and theoretical characterization of phenotypic, transcriptomic and genetic patterns of sex-specific adaptation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.
Puixeu Sala, Gemma. The Molecular Basis of Sexual Dimorphism: Experimental and Theoretical Characterization of Phenotypic, Transcriptomic and Genetic Patterns of Sex-Specific Adaptation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2023, doi:10.15479/at:ista:14058.
All files available under the following license(s):
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0):
Main File(s)
File Name
Access Level
OA Open Access
Date Uploaded
2023-08-18
MD5 Checksum
e10b04cd8f3fecc0d9ef6e6868b6e1e8

Source File
File Name
Access Level
Restricted Closed Access
Date Uploaded
2023-08-16
MD5 Checksum
4e44e169f2724ee8c9324cd60bcc2b71

Export

Marked Publications

Open Data ISTA Research Explorer

Search this title in

Google Scholar
ISBN Search