How do males and females resolve their evolutionary conflict?
PATHOGEN EVOLUTION
Patterns of host–pathogen coevolution but with the added complexity of males and females may be difficult to predict using classic red queen models.
Sex and infection are intimately linked. Many diseases are spread by sexual contact, males are thought to evolve exaggerated sexual signals to demonstrate their immune robustness, and pathogens have been shown to direct the evolution of recombination. Here, however, infection is influencing the evolution of male and female fitness and less is known about how sex differences influence pathogen fitness.
How does sexual dimorphism influence the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease?
Does the genetic architecture of dimorphism play into host-pathogen coevolution?
SAY Gipson and MD Hall. 2016. The evolution of sexual dimorphism and its potential impact on host–pathogen coevolution. Evolution 70 (5): 959–968.
O Thompson, SAY Gipson and MD Hall. The impact of host sex on the outcome of co-infection. Scientific Reports 7(1): 910.
SEXUAL ANTAGONISM
Strong genetic correlations between the sexes lead to pervasive sexually antagonistic (SA) selection during adaptation to stable environmental conditions.
Females and males have conflicting evolutionary interests. Selection favours the evolution of different phenotypes within each sex, yet divergence between the sexes is constrained by the shared genetic basis of female and male traits. How this process plays out in a changing environment, such as one under constant pathogen threat, remains largely unknown.
How common should antagonism be in a changing environment?
What are the consequences of sexual antagonism for population persistence?
T Connallon and MD Hall. 2016. Genetic correlations and sex‐specific adaptation in changing environments. Evolution 70(10): 2186–2198.
COMPLEX TRAITS
The fitness surface of the major canonical axes of selection on male sexual signals under conditions of female-biased conflict.
Sexual interactions are rife with conflict. Any interaction between males or females that generates variation in fitness, whether due to conflict, competition or mate choice, can potentially influence selection acting on a range of complex traits.
How does sexual antagonism alter selection for complex male sexual signals?
Can conflict modify the short-term adaptive potential of complex male traits?
Hall M.D., Lailvaux S.P. & Brooks R.C. (2013) Sex-specific evolutionary potential of pre- and postcopulatory reproductive interactions in the field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus. Evolution, 67: 1831 - 1837.
Hall, M. D., Lailvaux, S. P., Blows, M. W. & Brooks, R. (2010) Sexual conflict and the maintenance of multivariate genetic variation. Evolution, 64(6): 1697–1703.