The evolution of parental care in leeches: costs and benefits in a clade of hermaphroditic, invertebrate ectotherms. Parental care is a basic element of reproduction in many species. Nearly everything we know about parental care comes from study of vertebrates, especially birds and mammals. Leech is synonymous with exploitation, but many of these annelid worms are devoted parents. Because they differ dramatically from most vertebrates, leeches present an excellent, but as yet unused, opportunity ....The evolution of parental care in leeches: costs and benefits in a clade of hermaphroditic, invertebrate ectotherms. Parental care is a basic element of reproduction in many species. Nearly everything we know about parental care comes from study of vertebrates, especially birds and mammals. Leech is synonymous with exploitation, but many of these annelid worms are devoted parents. Because they differ dramatically from most vertebrates, leeches present an excellent, but as yet unused, opportunity to test our theories and understanding of the evoluton of parental care. We will examine the evolution of degrees of care and sibling competition in leech families, and use molecular markers to better understand the genetic structure of populations of these invertebrates.Read moreRead less
Exposing the complex and flexible genetic basis to polygenic adaptation: integrating population and quantitative genomic approaches. Using leading-edge genomic approaches, the project will dissect the genetic basis to adaptation across an entire species range. The results will highlight the complex nature of adaptation to environmental change and will deliver new approaches to study it in natural populations.
Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australi ....Maternal effects and sex allocation: an integrated approach. This project will produce research of a high international standard combining a number of key fields in evolution and ecology. The team we have assembled provides a link between Australian-based researchers and leading overseas theoreticians facilitating integration between evolutionary theory and empirical research on the unique Australian fauna. Furthermore, while climate change is identified as a priority area for research, Australia typically lacks the history of long-term phenological monitoring that is required to understand climate change impacts. This project takes an important step towards addressing this shortcoming.Read moreRead less
Evolution and role of neo-sex chromosomes in mitonuclear co-evolution. This project aims to characterize the evolution of novel, extended sex chromosomes in an Australian bird, then elucidate their role in climate-associated adaptive evolution. The species falls into two lineages bearing distinct mitochondrial genomes and nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes carried on sex chromosomes. The project aims to test whether this extraordinary genome arrangement is splitting the species into two forms: ....Evolution and role of neo-sex chromosomes in mitonuclear co-evolution. This project aims to characterize the evolution of novel, extended sex chromosomes in an Australian bird, then elucidate their role in climate-associated adaptive evolution. The species falls into two lineages bearing distinct mitochondrial genomes and nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes carried on sex chromosomes. The project aims to test whether this extraordinary genome arrangement is splitting the species into two forms: one adapted to hotter, drier environments, one to milder ones. This would be tackled using an innovative combination of genomics, cytogenetics, and metabolic data. Understanding the mechanisms at play would represent a major advance in ecology and evolution, with potential implications for conservation management.Read moreRead less
The evolutionary genetics of adaptation in species with separate sexes. This project aims to provide new theory and analysis methods for studying the genetic basis of female and male fitness. The project expects to provide new insights into the evolutionary, genetic and demographic mechanisms that influence evolutionary genetic diversity within populations. The project will reveal how sex differences in selection affect adaptation, and provide a framework for predicting whether populations with ....The evolutionary genetics of adaptation in species with separate sexes. This project aims to provide new theory and analysis methods for studying the genetic basis of female and male fitness. The project expects to provide new insights into the evolutionary, genetic and demographic mechanisms that influence evolutionary genetic diversity within populations. The project will reveal how sex differences in selection affect adaptation, and provide a framework for predicting whether populations with separate sexes are able to persist under changing environmental conditions. By developing a rigorous theoretical foundation for sex-specific adaptation – including genome inference methods that follow logically from the theory – the proposal will define new approaches for studying evolutionary processes in natural populations.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100354
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
How adaptation increases the intensity of sexual conflict. This project aims to test a theory that a species’ adaptation to its environment may cause sexual conflicts where gene variants increase the fitness of one sex but decrease it in the other. When populations harbour large numbers of these sexually antagonistic genes, adaptation is hampered and extinction becomes more likely. This project will fuse experimental evolution with quantitative genetic approaches to test this theory. Understandi ....How adaptation increases the intensity of sexual conflict. This project aims to test a theory that a species’ adaptation to its environment may cause sexual conflicts where gene variants increase the fitness of one sex but decrease it in the other. When populations harbour large numbers of these sexually antagonistic genes, adaptation is hampered and extinction becomes more likely. This project will fuse experimental evolution with quantitative genetic approaches to test this theory. Understanding sex differences in adaptation and the evolution of sexual dimorphism could enable scientists to predict levels of sexually deleterious variation under changing environmental conditions. Its findings are expected to provide new insights into sex differences in adaptation.Read moreRead less
Sex-specific selection and adaptation in spatially variable environments. This project aims to outline a broadly applicable approach for estimating sex-specific selection, which is based on an extension of the theory of local adaptation with gene flow. Adaptive evolution can be constrained when patterns of selection differ between the sexes. Experiments using model organisms provide strong evidence for adaptive constraints due to sex differences in selection. Outside of these model systems, sex- ....Sex-specific selection and adaptation in spatially variable environments. This project aims to outline a broadly applicable approach for estimating sex-specific selection, which is based on an extension of the theory of local adaptation with gene flow. Adaptive evolution can be constrained when patterns of selection differ between the sexes. Experiments using model organisms provide strong evidence for adaptive constraints due to sex differences in selection. Outside of these model systems, sex-specific selection estimates are difficult to obtain because methods for estimating selection are not easily applied to natural populations. Experiments, using a clinally variable Drosophila population from Eastern Australia constitute the first tests of the new theory.Read moreRead less
Detecting sex differences in natural selection. This project aims to develop new genomic approaches for understanding how genetic mutations can differentially affect reproductive success in males and females. Applying novel tests, this project aims to uncover previously hidden genetic conflicts between the sexes. This will provide significant benefits, such as new tools that will be broadly applicable to the wider research community, and help to answer key questions in genetics and evolutionary ....Detecting sex differences in natural selection. This project aims to develop new genomic approaches for understanding how genetic mutations can differentially affect reproductive success in males and females. Applying novel tests, this project aims to uncover previously hidden genetic conflicts between the sexes. This will provide significant benefits, such as new tools that will be broadly applicable to the wider research community, and help to answer key questions in genetics and evolutionary biology in the current genomic era.Read moreRead less
Can mitochondrial and nuclear co-evolution drive climate adaptation? This project aims to reveal whether co-evolution between the mitochondrial genome of a wild bird and partner nuclear genes is causing the species to split into two forms, one adapted to inland environments and one to coastal conditions. Mitochondrial-nuclear co-evolution has great potential to illuminate new modes of climate adaptation and lineage divergence. This understanding will provide significant benefits, with implicatio ....Can mitochondrial and nuclear co-evolution drive climate adaptation? This project aims to reveal whether co-evolution between the mitochondrial genome of a wild bird and partner nuclear genes is causing the species to split into two forms, one adapted to inland environments and one to coastal conditions. Mitochondrial-nuclear co-evolution has great potential to illuminate new modes of climate adaptation and lineage divergence. This understanding will provide significant benefits, with implications for conservation management.Read moreRead less