My project had three objectives: i) a population genomic analysis of population genomic data from European D. melanogaster populations, ii) lab-based behavioural experiments to investigate the male-female interactions for inbred lines obtained from populations with extreme patterns of coevolution, iii) and indirect study of the consequences of coevolution on natural behaviour via sampling of wild-caught females and determining mating/re-mating rates. To-date (Feb 2025) I have fully completed parts I) and II), both of which took longer than anticipated.
I) I have completed a comprehensive population genomic analysis of the male- and female- components of the sex-peptide network. In order to complete this I had to develop procedures to use analytical methods not previously used for genetic data. The main results of this work finds that there is strong evidence for a co-evolutionary process shaping patterns of genetic diversity at these loci. Moreover, we can use these genetic patterns to identify populations where males- or females- should show a relative advantage in sexual conflicts.
II) on the basis of results in part I), I identified 2 populations where males should be at an advantage, 2 populations where females should have an advantage, and 2 populations where the sexes should be roughly equally matched. I limited myself to choosing from populations from which isofemale lines had already been established by the DrosEU consortium, which I then used to conduct a large-scale mating and re-mating experiment in the lab. The main achievement of this work is that I can show that to a large extent, observations match the predictions from SAC theory very closely in this system.
