Obiettivo
Optimal trait values often differ between the sexes. However, when male and female traits are controlled by the same genes, the influence of directional selection in one sex will be counteracted by opposite selection in the other sex, resulting in negative cross-sex genetic covariance for fitness and evolutionary stasis. Such a situation, termed “intralocus sexual conflict” (ISC), is believed to be common but has received little attention. A better understanding of the evolutionary dynamic of ISCs is essential to develop realistic sexual selection models, better understand population dynamics and assess the importance of ISCs in the speciation process. To date, studies that have investigated the genetic architecture of ISCs were restricted to laboratory populations and unlikely captured the complexity of natural systems. In addition, despite substantial theoretical advances on the potential mechanisms allowing the resolution of ISCs, empirical data clearly lags behind. In this study, I propose to take advantage of a long-term field study of great tit (Parus major) and state-of-the-art quantitative genetics and genomic tools to address these topics. Specifically, I plan to utilize a genetic linkage map composed of 10 000 polymorphic markers to identify genomic regions containing genes involved in ISCs, verify if these “islands of conflict” are co-localized with regions influencing known fitness-related traits such as body mass or clutch size, and test for variability in the location, number and strength of such islands over ontogeny, time, and environmental conditions. In addition, I suggest testing the novel idea that ISCs in great tit are alleviated by the evolution of genetic correlations between sex-specific fitness and offspring sex ratio and locate genes influencing offspring sex ratio. This study will be the first to address these topics in a wild population and provide fundamental information of interest to a large number of evolutionary biologists.
Campo scientifico
Invito a presentare proposte
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)Coordinatore
S10 2TN Sheffield
Regno Unito