Sexual antagonism in haplodiploids

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary genetics
• Haplodiploid inheritance systems

Background:

• Sexual antagonism, where alleles benefit one sex but harm the other, is well-studied in diploids.
• Haplodiploid inheritance, common in many animals, involves unique genetic systems like arrhenotoky and paternal genome elimination (PGE).
• Haplodiploid social ecologies can also influence sex-specific selection pressures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop evolutionary-genetic models of sexual antagonism specifically for haplodiploid organisms.
• To investigate how haplodiploid genetics and social structures affect the evolution of sex-antagonistic alleles.

Main Methods:

• Development of evolutionary-genetic models tailored to haplodiploid inheritance.
• Incorporation of molecular biology and social ecology factors into the models.
• Analysis of allele dynamics under different haplodiploid reproductive strategies.

Main Results:

• Paternal genome elimination (PGE) more effectively promotes female-beneficial alleles than arrhenotoky, with effects modulated by paternal genome timing and silencing.
• Inbreeding, including sib-mating and limited male dispersal, favors female-beneficial alleles.
• Resource competition among related females hinders the spread of female-beneficial alleles.
• Sexual antagonism drives conflicts between parents and offspring, hosts and endosymbionts, and genes of maternal vs. paternal origin.

Conclusions:

• Haplodiploid systems, particularly those with PGE, exhibit distinct evolutionary dynamics of sexual antagonism compared to diploids.
• Inbreeding and social structures significantly shape the outcome of sexual antagonism in haplodiploids.
• Sexual antagonism in haplodiploids has broad implications for inter-genomic and inter-generational conflicts.