Testing the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis: past, present, and future

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Genomics
• Parasitology

Background:

• The Hamilton and Zuk good-genes model posits that sexual selection maintains genetic variation via female preference for parasite resistance ornaments.
• Co-adaptive cycles of host resistance and parasite virulence are proposed to continually renew genetic variation for fitness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss how high-throughput sequencing and genomic approaches can improve empirical testing of the Hamilton and Zuk model.
• To identify specific genomic capabilities that will aid in understanding parasite-mediated sexual selection.

Main Methods:

• Review of theoretical and empirical studies on the Hamilton and Zuk model.
• Discussion of potential applications of high-throughput sequencing and genomic data.
• Identification of host-parasite systems amenable to genomic investigation.

Main Results:

• Empirical validation of the Hamilton and Zuk model has been challenging due to difficulties in mechanistic testing.
• Genomic approaches can identify parasite suites, reconstruct host-parasite phylogenies, and detect heritable variant cycles.
• Integrative studies combining genomic resources with well-studied host-parasite systems are crucial.

Conclusions:

• Genomic tools offer unprecedented potential to empirically validate the role of parasites in sexual selection.
• Future research should leverage existing genomic resources in specific host-parasite systems.
• Robust tests of the Hamilton and Zuk hypothesis are now more feasible.