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Sexual selection and experimental evolution of chemical signals in D rosophila pseudoobscura
Author(s) -
Hunt J.,
Snook R. R.,
Mitchell C.,
Crudgington H. S.,
Moore A. J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02603.x
Subject(s) - biology , sexual dimorphism , drosophila pseudoobscura , sexual selection , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , principal component analysis , zoology , genetics , statistics , gene , artificial intelligence , mathematics , computer science
Our expectations for the evolution of chemical signals in response to sexual selection are uncertain. How are chemical signals elaborated? Does sexual selection result in complexity of the composition or in altered quantities of expression? We addressed this in D rosophila pseudoobscura by examining male and female cuticular hydrocarbons ( CH s) after 82 generations of elevated ( E ) sexual selection or relaxed sexual selection through monogamy ( M ). The CH profile consisted of 18 different components. We extracted three eigenvectors using principal component analysis that explained 72% of the variation. principal component ( PC )1 described the amount of CH s produced, PC 2 the trade‐off between short‐ and long‐chain CH s and PC 3 the trade‐off between apparently arbitrary CH s. In both sexes, the amount of CH s produced was greater in flies from the E treatment. PC 3 was also higher, indicating that sexual selection also influenced the evolution of CH composition. The sexes differed in all three PC s, indicating substantial sexual dimorphism in this species, although the magnitude of this dimorphism was not increased as a result of our experimental evolution. Collectively, our work provides direct evidence that sexual selection plays an important role in the evolution of CH s in D . pseudoobscura and that both increased quantity and overall composition are targeted.