The evolution of female mating systems: tracing the origins and tracking the consequences

女性交配系统的进化：追溯起源并追踪后果

• 批准号: BB/V005855/1
• 负责人: Rebecca Boulton
• 金额: $ 38.48万
• 依托单位: University of Stirling
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV005855%2F1
• 关键词: evolution; female; mating; systems; tracing

A key focus in evolutionary biology has been to understand how mating patterns evolve in different species and populations. Research into mating behaviour has historically focussed on why extravagant male traits evolve, but in recent years more subtle aspects of female mating behaviour have been uncovered. Traditionally females were assumed to mate only once (monandry) to acquire enough sperm to reproduce. However, it is now clear that monandry is rare and that females typically mate with multiple males (polyandry). Recent work has shown that while polyandry can be costly, it can also allow females to produce more offspring, and that polyandrous populations can be less likely to go extinct. Yet, while we know that female preference can drive evolutionary change in extravagant male traits (like the peacock's tail), we still do not know what drives the evolution of different female mating rates and why monandry is so rare. The work that I propose will advance our understanding of female mating strategies, broadening the field to ask questions about how and why female mating systems change. I will develop simulation models (collab. Dr Brad Duthie) to infer how many times the first sexually reproducing organisms, which lived billions of years ago, mated. These models will help me to understand how mating patterns in ancient organisms evolved alongside sexual reproduction, in terms of the evolution of separate sexes (males and females) and internal fertilisation (mating). I will then construct an evolutionary model to look at finer scale and more recent changes in female mating behaviour in a novel group of species, the parasitoid wasps. Parasitoid wasps are important natural enemies that are used to control pest species, so we know a lot about their behaviour, physiology and genetics. In particular, parasitoid females have diverse mating rates across different species ranging from asexuality (no-mating) through to monandry and polyandry. The diversity in and knowledge of female mating patterns across the parasitoids will allow me to use evolutionary analyses to estimate when and why female mating behaviour changed in the past, and whether these changes drive the evolution of other traits (collab. Dr Sally Street). As an example, parasitoids show great variation in the sex ratio; in some species over 90% of the population are female. I predict that polyandry will be more common in species with strongly female-biased sex ratios, so that females can obtain enough sperm to reproduce.I will also track changes in female mating behaviour in real-time using experimental evolution in the aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus fabarum (collab. Prof Christoph Vorburger). I will run experiments at the University of Stirling, setting up greenhouse populations comprised of monandrous, polyandrous and asexual females and then alter the sex ratio, to either limit or increase the availability of males. I will measure female mating rates over generations to test whether factors such as mate-limitation drive changes in the frequency of different female mating strategies.My results will reveal whether polyandrous, monandrous or asexual parasitoids are likely to be more robust to extinction threats (such as climate change). These findings also have important ramifications for the control of pests and invasive species by parasitoid wasps and could be used to develop long-term sustainable and cost-effective biological control strategies in order to control crop pests and invasive species. The international partnerships that I have developed (Dr Luc Bussiere, Dr Bart Pannebakker) will facilitate the dissemination of my findings to industrial stakeholders so that my insights can be integrated into policy. Alongside my experimental work, I will also use bibliometric techniques to analyse research papers and investigate how integrating new methods and more diverse gender perspectives has shaped our understanding of female mating behaviour.

进化生物学的一个重点是了解不同物种和种群的交配模式如何进化。历史上，对交配行为的研究主要集中在为什么奢侈的男性特征会进化，但近年来，女性交配行为的更微妙的方面已经被发现。传统上，雌性被认为只交配一次（monandry）以获得足够的精子来繁殖。然而，现在很明显，一夫多妻制很少见，雌性通常与多个雄性交配（一妻多夫制）。最近的研究表明，虽然一妻多夫制的成本很高，但它也可以让雌性生育更多的后代，而且一妻多夫的种群灭绝的可能性较小。然而，虽然我们知道女性偏好可以推动奢侈男性特征（如孔雀尾巴）的进化变化，但我们仍然不知道是什么推动了不同女性交配率​​的进化，以及为什么monandry如此罕见。我提出的工作将增进我们对女性交配策略的理解，拓宽研究领域，以提出有关女性交配系统如何以及为何变化的问题。我将开发模拟模型（与 Brad Duthie 博士合作）来推断数十亿年前生活的第一个有性生殖生物的交配次数。这些模型将帮助我了解古代生物体的交配模式是如何随着有性生殖而进化的，包括不同性别（雄性和雌性）的进化和体内受精（交配）。然后，我将构建一个进化模型，以观察寄生黄蜂这一新物种中雌性交配行为的更精细规模和最新变化。寄生蜂是用于控制害虫物种的重要天敌，因此我们对它们的行为、生理和遗传学了解很多。特别是，寄生雌性在不同物种中具有不同的交配率，从无性繁殖（无交配）到一夫多妻制和一妻多夫制。寄生蜂雌性交配模式的多样性和知识将使我能够利用进化分析来估计雌性交配行为在过去何时以及为何发生变化，以及这些变化是否驱动了其他特征的进化（合作。莎莉街博士）。例如，寄生蜂的性别比例存在很大差异。在某些物种中，90%以上的人口是雌性。我预测一妻多夫制在性别比例明显偏向雌性的物种中会更常见，这样雌性就可以获得足够的精子来繁殖。我还将利用蚜虫寄生蜂 Lysiphlebus fabarum 的实验进化来实时跟踪雌性交配行为的变化（克里斯托夫·沃尔伯格教授合作）。我将在斯特灵大学进行实验，建立由一妻多夫、一妻多夫和无性雌性组成的温室种群，然后改变性别比例，以限制或增加雄性的可用性。我将测量几代雌性的交配率，以测试诸如交配限制等因素是否会导致不同雌性交配策略频率的变化。我的结果将揭示一妻多夫、单性或无性寄生蜂是否可能更能抵御灭绝威胁（例如如气候变化）。这些发现对于寄生黄蜂控制害虫和入侵物种也具有重要影响，可用于制定长期可持续且具有成本效益的生物控制策略，以控制作物害虫和入侵物种。我建立的国际合作伙伴关系（Luc Bussiere 博士、Bart Pannebakker 博士）将促进我的研究结果向工业利益相关者传播，以便我的见解能够融入政策中。除了我的实验工作外，我还将使用文献计量技术来分析研究论文，并研究如何整合新方法和更多样化的性别观点来塑造我们对女性交配行为的理解。