Sexual Selection and Experimental Evolution

Francisco Garcia‐Gonzalez, The University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia

Published online: January 2011

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0022859

Abstract

Sexual selection is a potent force shaping multiple aspects of the interaction between the sexes, including the characters underlying reproductive success and sexual conflict, and may play an important role in determining the viability of populations. Experimental evolution is a methodological approach in which researchers either act as selective agents or establish the selective pressures operating on individuals to investigate changes in traits across generations and the genetic underpinning of these changes. Experimental evolution replicates the evolutionary process under controlled conditions and, by doing so, offers exceptional insights into the role of variation, selection and adaptation in evolution. Applied to the study of pre‐copulatory (before mating) and post‐copulatory (after mating) sexual selection, experimental evolution proves critical to understand the evolutionary consequences of male–male competition and female mate choice, and the repercussions of concurrent or divergent interests between the sexes in regard to reproduction.

Key Concepts:

  • Experimental evolution is a methodological approach to study adaptation under controlled experimental conditions.

  • Sexual selection shapes the characters underlying reproductive success.

  • Experimental evolution is a powerful tool for understanding the evolutionary consequences of sexual selection and sexual conflict.

Keywords: adaptation; artificial selection; female choice; microevolution; laboratory natural selection; laboratory sexual selection; reproduction; sexual conflict; sexually antagonistic coevolution; sperm competition

Figure 1.

Evolutionary divergence in the shape of the male Onthophagus taurus copulatory organ (aedeagus) after 19 generations of experimental evolution. (a) Landmarks A‐F used to measure the dimensions of the two components of the aedeagus, the parameres (par) and the phalobase (ph), which are delineated by landmarks A‐B‐C‐G and D‐E‐F‐G respectively. (b) Divergence in the shape of the aedeagus between lines subjected to a selection protocol of enforced monogamy and lines where sexual selection was present. Variation in shape is described by a single variable: higher positive scores characterise longer and thinner aedeagi, whereas higher negative scores characterise shorter and wider aedeagi. Data are presented as mean shape (columns) and standard error of the mean (discontinuous lines). Reproduced, with permission, from Simmons et al. .
close

References

Andersson M (1994) Sexual Selection. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Monographs in Behaviour and Ecology.

Arnqvist G and Rowe L (2005) Sexual Conflict. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Bacigalupe LD, Crudgington HS, Hunter FM et al. (2007) Sexual conflict does not drive reproductive isolation in experimental populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20: 1763–1771.

Bacigalupe LD, Crudgington HS, Slate J et al. (2008) Sexual selection and interacting phenotypes in experimental evolution: a study of Drosophila pseudoobscura mating behavior. Evolution 62: 1804–1812.

Bakker TCM and Pomiankowski A (1995) The genetic‐basis of female mate preferences. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 8: 129–171.

Birkhead TR and Møller AP (ed.) (1998) Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Burke MK and Rose MR (2009) Experimental evolution with Drosophila. American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 296: R1847–R1854.

Chenoweth SF, Rundle HD and Blows MW (2010) Experimental evidence for the evolution of indirect genetic effects: changes in the interaction effect coefficient, Psi (Ψ), due to sexual selection. Evolution 64: 1849–1856.

Crudgington HS, Fellows S, Badcock NS et al. (2009) Experimental manipulation of sexual selection promotes greater male mating capacity but does not alter sperm investment. Evolution 63: 926–938.

Crudgington HS, Fellows S and Snook RR (2010) Increased opportunity for sexual conflict promotes harmful males with elevated courtship frequencies. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 440–446.

Dudley JW (2007) From means to QTL: the Illinois long‐term selection experiment as a case study in quantitative genetics. Crop Science 47(suppl. 3): S20–S31.

Edward DA, Fricke C and Chapman T (2010) Adaptations to sexual selection and sexual conflict: insights from experimental evolution and artificial selection. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 365: 2541–2548.

Elena SF and Lenski RE (2003) Microbial genetics: evolution experiments with microorganisms: the dynamics and genetic bases of adaptation. Nature Reviews. Genetics 4: 457.

Endler JA (1980) Natural selection on color patterns in Poecilia reticulata. Evolution 34: 76–91.

Firman RC and Simmons LW (2010) Experimental evolution of sperm quality via postcopulatory sexual selection in house mice. Evolution 64: 1245–1256.

Fricke C, Andersson C and Arnqvist G (2010) Natural selection hampers divergence of reproductive traits in a seed beetle. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1857–1867.

Fricke C and Arnqvist G (2007) Rapid adaptation to a novel host in a seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus): the role of sexual selection. Evolution 61: 440–454.

Fuller RC, Baer CF and Travis J (2005) How and when selection experiments might actually be useful. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 391–404.

García‐González F (2009) Evolución en acción: estudios de evolución experimental en el contexto de la selección sexual. In: Dopazo H and Navarro A (eds) Adaptación y Evolución. 150 años después del Origen de las Especies, pp. 281–289. Valencia: Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva‐Obrapropia S. L.

Garland TJ and Rose MR (eds) (2009) Experimental Evolution: Concepts, Methods and Applications of Selection Experiments. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Gay L, Eady PE, Vasudev R et al. (2009) Does reproductive isolation evolve faster in larger populations via sexually antagonistic coevolution? Biology Letters 5: 693–696.

Hill WG and Caballero A (1992) Artificial selection experiments. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 23: 287–310.

Holland B and Rice WR (1999) Experimental removal of sexual selection reverses intersexual antagonistic coevolution and removes a reproductive load. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 96: 5083–5088.

Hollis B, Fierst JL and Houle D (2009) Sexual selection accelerates the elimination of a deleterious mutant in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 63: 324–333.

Hosken DJ, Garner TW and Ward PI (2001) Sexual conflict selects for male and female reproductive characters. Current Biology 11: 489–493.

Hosken DJ and Ward PI (2001) Experimental evidence for testis size evolution via sperm competition. Ecology Letters 4: 10–13.

Jarzebowska M and Radwan J (2010) Sexual selection counteracts extinction of small populations of the bulb mites. Evolution 64: 1283–1289.

LaMunyon CW and Ward S (2002) Evolution of larger sperm in response to experimentally increased sperm competition in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society 269: 1125–1128.

Maklakov AA, Cayetano L, Brooks RC et al. (2010) The roles of life‐history selection and sexual selection in the adaptive evolution of mating behavior in a beetle. Evolution 64: 1273–1282.

Manning A (1961) The effects of artificial selection for mating speed in Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Behaviour 9: 82–92.

Martin OY and Hosken DJ (2003a) Costs and benefits of evolving under experimentally enforced polyandry or monogamy. Evolution 57: 2765–2772.

Martin OY and Hosken DJ (2003b) The evolution of reproductive isolation through sexual conflict. Nature 423: 979–982.

Miller GT and Pitnick S (2002) Sperm‐female coevolution in Drosophila. Science 298: 1230–1233.

Morrow EH, Stewart AD and Rice WR (2008) Assessing the extent of genome‐wide intralocus sexual conflict via experimentally enforced gender‐limited selection. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21: 1046–1054.

Parker GA (1979) Sexual selection and sexual conflict. In: Blum MS and Blum NA (eds) Sexual Selection and Reproductive Competition in Insects, pp. 123–166. New York: Academic Press.

Pitnick S, Brown WD and Miller GT (2001a) Evolution of female remating behaviour following experimental removal of sexual selection. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society 268: 557–563.

Pitnick S, Miller GT, Reagan J et al. (2001b) Males’ evolutionary responses to experimental removal of sexual selection. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society 268: 1071–1080.

Prasad NG, Bedhomme S, Day T et al. (2007) An evolutionary cost of separate genders revealed by male‐limited evolution. American Naturalist 169: 29–37.

Promislow DEL, Smith EA and Pearse L (1998) Adult fitness consequences of sexual selection in Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 95: 10687–10692.

Reuter M, Linklater JR, Lehmann L et al. (2008) Adaptation to experimental alterations of the operational sex ratio in populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 62: 401–412.

Reznick DN and Ghalambor CK (2005) Selection in nature: experimental manipulations of natural populations. Integrative and Comparative Biology 45: 456–462.

Rice WR (1996) Sexually antagonistic male adaptation triggered by experimental arrest of female evolution. Nature 381: 232–234.

Rogers DW and Greig D (2009) Experimental evolution of a sexually selected display in yeast. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society 276: 543–549.

Rundle HD, Chenoweth SF and Blows MW (2006) The roles of natural and sexual selection during adaptation to a novel environment. Evolution 60: 2218–2225.

Simmons LW (2001) Sperm Competition and its Evolutionary Consequences in the Insects. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Simmons LW and García‐González F (2008) Evolutionary reduction in testes size and competitive fertilization success in response to the experimental removal of sexual selection in dung beetles. Evolution 62: 2580–2591.

Simmons LW, House CM, Hunt J et al. (2009) Evolutionary response to sexual selection in male genital morphology. Current Biology 19(17): 1442–1446.

Snook RR, Robertson A, Crudgington HS et al. (2005) Experimental manipulation of sexual selection and the evolution of courtship song in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Behavior Genetics 35: 245–255.

Snook RS, Brüstle L and Slate J (2009) A test and review of the role of effective population size on experimental sexual selection patterns. Evolution 63: 1923–1933.

Stewart AD, Morrow EH and Rice WR (2005) Assessing putative interlocus sexual conflict in Drosophila melanogaster using experimental evolution. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society 272: 2029–2035.

Tilszer M, Antoszczyk K, Salek N et al. (2006) Evolution under relaxed sexual conflict in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini. Evolution 60: 1868–1873.

Whitlock MC and Agrawal AF (2009) Purging the genome with sexual selection: reducing mutation load through selection on males. Evolution 63: 569–582.

Wigby S and Chapman T (2004) Female resistance to male harm evolves in response to manipulation of sexual conflict. Evolution 58: 1028–1037.

Wigby S and Chapman T (2006) No evidence that experimental manipulation of sexual conflict drives premating reproductive isolation in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 1033–1039.

Wigby S, Sirot LK, Linklater JR et al. (2009) Seminal fluid protein allocation and male reproductive success. Current Biology 19: 751–757.

Further Reading

Barrick JE, Yu DS, Yoon SH et al. (2009) Genome evolution and adaptation in a long‐term experiment with E. coli. Nature 461: 1243–1247.

Bennett AF and Lenski RE (1999) Experimental evolution and its role in evolutionary physiology. American Zoologist 39: 346–362.

Birkhead TR and Pizzari T (2002) Postcopulatory sexual selection. Nature Reviews. Genetics 3: 262–273.

Buckling A, Maclean RC, Brockhurst MA et al. (2009) The Beagle in a bottle. Nature 457: 824–829.

Darwin CR (1859) On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray.

Darwin CR (1871) The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray.

Eberhard WG (1996) Female Control: Sexual Selection By Cryptic Female Choice. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Holland B and Rice WR (1998) Chase‐away sexual selection: antagonistic seduction versus resistance. Evolution 52: 1–7.

Parker GA (1970) Sperm competition and its evolutionary consequences in the insects. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 45: 525–567.

Trivers RL (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In: Campbell R (ed.) Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, pp. 136–179. London: Heinemann.

Related Sub-Topics:

Evolution of Species | Evolutionary Ecology | Adaptive Evolution | Selection and Variation | Population Structure and Genetics | Life History and Reproduction | Behavioural Ecology | Evolutionary Processes
Contact Editor close
Submit a note to the editor about this article by filling in the form below.

* Required Field

Article Title: Sexual Selection and Experimental Evolution
 
How to Cite close
Garcia‐Gonzalez, Francisco(Jan 2011) Sexual Selection and Experimental Evolution. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0022859]