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571 results for “Sex differences”
Data from: Oxidative stress and the evolution of sex differences in lifespan and ageing in the decorated cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus
The Free Radical Theory of Ageing (FRTA) predicts that oxidative stress, induced when levels of reactive oxygen species exceed the capacity of antioxidant defences, causes ageing. Recently, it has also been argued that oxidative damage may mediate important life-history trade-offs. Here, we use inbred lines of the decorated cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus, to estimate the genetic (co)variance between age-dependent reproductive effort, lifespan, ageing, oxidative damage and total antioxidant capacity within and between the sexes. The FRTA predicts that oxidative damage should accumulate with age and negatively correlate with lifespan. We find that protein oxidation is greater in the shorter lived sex (females) and negatively genetically correlated with lifespan in both sexes. However, oxidative damage did not accumulate with age in either sex. Previously we have shown antagonistic pleiotropy between the genes for early life reproductive effort and ageing rate in both sexes, although this was stronger in females. In females, we find that elevated fecundity early in life is associated with greater protein oxidation later in life, which is in turn positively correlated with the rate of ageing. Our results provide mixed support for the FRTA but suggest that oxidative stress may mediate sex-specific life-history strategies in G. sigillatus.
Data from: Consistency pays: sex differences and fitness consequences of behavioural specialisation in a wide ranging seabird
Specialists and generalists often coexist within a single population, but the biological drivers of individual strategies are not fully resolved. When sexes differ in their foraging strategy, this can lead them to different environmental conditions and stability across their habitat range. As such, sexual segregation, combined with dominance, may lead to varying levels of specialization between the sexes. Here, we examine spatial and temporal niche width (intraindividual variability in aspects of foraging behaviour) of male and female black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophrys), and its consequences for fitness. We show that females, where maximum foraging range is under fluctuating selection, exhibit more variable behaviours and appear more generalist than males, who are under directional selection to forage close to the colony. However within each sex, successful birds had a much narrower niche width across most behaviours, suggesting some specialization is adaptive in both sexes. These results demonstrate that while there are sex differences in niche width, the fitness benefit of specialization in spatial distribution is strong in this wide-ranging seabird.
Data from: Sex-differences in nutrient intake can reduce the potential for sexual conflict over fitness maximisation by female and male crickets
As females and males have different roles in reproduction, they are expected to require different nutrients for the expression of reproductive traits. However, due to their shared genome, both sexes may be constrained in the regulation of nutrient intake that maximises sex specific fitness. Here, we used the Geometric Framework for nutrition to examine the effect of macronutrient and micronutrient intakes on lifespan, fecundity, and cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) that signal mate quality to prospective mates in female field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus. In addition, we contrasted nutritional effects on life-history traits between males and females to determine how sex differences influence nutrient regulation. We found that carbohydrate intake maximised female lifespan and protein intake influenced CHC expression, while early life fecundity (cumulative fecundity at Day 21) and lifetime fecundity were dependent on both macronutrient and micronutrient intakes. Fecundity required different nutrient blends to those required to optimise sperm viability in males, generating the potential for sexual conflict over macronutrient intake. The regulation of protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intakes by virgin and mated females initially matched that of males, but females adjusted their intake to a higher P:C ratio, 1P:2C, that maximised fecundity as they aged. This suggests that a sex-specific, age-dependent change in intake target for sexually mature females, regardless of their mating status, adjusts protein consumption in preparation for oviposition. Sex differences in the regulation of nutrient intake to optimise critical reproductive traits in female and male T. oceanicus, provides an example of how sexual conflict over nutrition can shape differences in foraging between the sexes.
Sex‐differences in disease avoidance behavior vary across modes of pathogen exposure
<p>Sex‐differences in disease susceptibility are widespread, and these disparities are often compounded in cases where sexual dimorphism increases exposure risk to parasites for one sex more than the other. Studies rarely link sex‐differences in disease susceptibility to sex‐differences in infection avoidance behavior. Yet, understanding the intersection of hosts' susceptibility to infection and infection avoidance behavior is essential to predicting infection risk variation. Here, we use the fruit fly <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> and a generalist entomopathogenic fungus, <i>Metarhizium robertsii</i>, which can be transmitted directly, indirectly, and post‐mortem as a model host–pathogen system. We test whether the relationship between susceptibility to infection and pathogen avoidance behavior covaries with host sex. We first measured differences in resistance between male and female flies after three different types of exposure—direct, sexual, and environmental—to infectious fungal conidiospores. Then, we tested whether male and female flies differed in the likelihood of mating with infected partners and their avoidance of food patches with increased infection risk. Females were more susceptible to infection under all three exposure techniques. When confronted with an infectious partner, females mated sooner than males. However, when given a choice between an exposed partner and an unexposed partner, females take longer to begin copulating compared with males, though neither sex was more likely to choose the unexposed partner than expected by chance. Neither male nor females flies avoided food patches containing infectious conidiospores, though only females show an aversion to food sites containing an infectious fly corpse. These experiments suggest that sex‐differences in disease susceptibility may be counteracted via differential pathogen avoidance behavior, though the strength of avoidance behavior appears to vary across different contexts of infection risk.</p>
Data from: Regional difference in sex steroid action on formation of morphological sex differences in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus and principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
Sex steroid action is critical to form sexually dimorphic nuclei, although it is not fully understood. We previously reported that masculinization of the principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTp), which is larger and has more neurons in males than in females, involves aromatized testosterone that acts via estrogen receptor-α (ERα), but not estrogen receptor-β (ERβ). Here, we examined sex steroid action on the formation of the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) that is larger and has more neurons in females. Morphometrical analysis of transgenic mice lacking aromatase, ERα, or ERβ genes revealed that the volume and neuron number of the male AVPV were significantly increased by deletion of aromatase and ERα genes, but not the ERβ gene. We further examined the AVPV and BNSTp of androgen receptor knockout (ARKO) mice. The volume and neuron number of the male BNSTp were smaller in ARKO mice than those in wild-type mice, while no significant effect of ARKO was found on the AVPV and female BNSTp. We also examined aromatase, ERα, and AR mRNA levels in the AVPV and BNSTp of wild-type and ARKO mice on embryonic day (ED) 18 and postnatal day (PD) 4. AR mRNA in the BNSTp and AVPV of wild-type mice was not expressed on ED18 and emerged on PD4. In the AVPV, the aromatase mRNA level was higher on ED18, although the ERα mRNA level was higher on PD4 without any effect of AR gene deletion. Aromatase and ERα mRNA levels in the male BNSTp were significantly increased on PD4 by AR gene deletion. These results suggest that estradiol signaling via ERα during the perinatal period and testosterone signaling via AR during the postnatal period are required for masculinization of the BNSTp, whereas the former is sufficient to defeminize the AVPV.
Data from: Broad-scale variation in sexual dichromatism in songbirds is not explained by sex differences in exposure to predators during incubation
The evolution of sexual dichromatism provoked one of the greatest disagreements between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. According to Darwin the main driving force is sexual selection, whereby choosy females prefer showy males, leading to the evolution of conspicuous male plumage. On the other hand, Wallace suggested that dichromatism may arise because nest predation favors more cryptic females. To test the role of natural selection in the evolution of dichromatism we combined quantitative data on differences in parental share in nest attentiveness (representing the strength of natural selection on males vs. females) with spectrophotometric measurements of dichromatism in 412 species of songbirds from 69 families. We expected to find stronger dichromatism in open-nesting species with more divergent parental roles and in body parts exposed during incubation. Dichromatism was not related to the differences in parental share during incubation, but it was most pronounced in lekking species, migrants, and small species. Our results thus suggest that Wallace's hypothesis is not able to explain broad-scale variation in the dichromatism of songbirds, but point to a role for sexual selection, mutual mate choice, and migration strategy in shaping the extraordinary variation in dichromatism exhibited by songbirds.
Data from: Odd couples: extraordinary differences between the sexes in the animal kingdom.
Introducing readers to important discoveries in animal behavior and evolution, Odd Couples explores some of the most extraordinary sexual differences in the animal world and shows how all can be understood through the common conceptual framework of evolutionary biology. The book uncovers the unique and bizarre characteristics—in size, behavior, ecology, and life history—that exist in these remarkable species and the special strategies they use to maximize reproductive success. Eight chapters highlight individual species with exceptional sexual dimorphisms, including elephant seals (Mirounga sp.), great bustards (Otis tarda), shell-carrying cichlids (Lamprologus callipterus), deep-sea anglerfishes (Ceratias holboelli), garden spiders (Argiope aurantia), bone-eating worms (Osedax sp.), blanket octopuses (Tremoctopus sp.) and burrowing barnacles (Trypetesa lampas). In addition, two synthesis chapters use data from all known animal phyla and classes to discern overall trends and patterns of sexual differences, providing the first broad-scale, quantitative analysis of sexual dimorphisms across the entire Animal Kingdom.
Sex-based differences in short and longer term metabolic heart disease_Supplementary Figures
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Exogenous oxidative stressors elicit differing age and sex effects
<p>Data and scripts for the manuscript entitled "Exogenous oxidative stressors elicit differing age and sex effects" submitted to <em>Experimental Gerontology. </em></p>
CTMM Data for: 'Sex-specific differences in cytokine signaling pathways in circulating monocytes of cardiovascular disease patients'
<p><span>Data from the publication 'Sex-specific differences in cytokine signaling pathways in circulating monocytes of cardiovascular disease patients' <a title="Persistent link using digital object identifier" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.04.005" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.04.005</span></a> </span></p> <p><span>We generated sex-biased gene expression signatures by comparing male versus female monocytes of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (n = 450) from the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine-Circulating Cells Cohort. </span></p> <p><span>the data includes 3 dataframes : </span></p> <p><span>clin_cvd: patient info</span></p> <p><span>geneexprs_hgnc: gene expression after batch correction</span></p> <p><span>GES_cvdmf_HGNC: limma results (male vs female)</span></p>
Attenuated sex-related DNA methylation differences in cancer highlight the magnitude bias mediating existing disparities
<p>This is supplementary data for the manuscript, "Attenuated sex-related DNA methylation differences in cancer highlight the magnitude bias mediating existing disparities"</p>
Fig. 1. A in Intersexual Size And Plumage Differences In Tree Sparrows (Passer Montanus) - A Morphological Study Based On Molecular Sex Determination
Fig. 1. A photography of the badge used for measurements; hatched area shows the badge area as measured with the image analyzing software (see text)
Figure 3 in Sex-related differences in the postmolt distribution of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the southern Weddell Sea
Figure 3. Daily speed (distance traveled in km/deployment length in days) for five male and eight female Weddell seals in region A (shallow water in the shelf), region B (deep water Filchner Trough), region C (continental shelf edge), and region D (deep water off the shelf).
Figure 1 from: Medeiros RT, Chaves FG, Vecchi MB, Nogueira DM, Alves MAS (2019) Molecular sexing and intersexual differences in the morphometry of the Hangnest Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus nidipendulus (Passeriformes: Rhynchocyclidae). Zoologia 36: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.36.e32771
Figure 1 The DNA fragments of the intronic region of the CHDZ/CHDW alleles of the Hangnest Tody-Tyrant individuals captured in the Costa do Sol State Park, in southeastern Brazil. The fragments were amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and electrophoresed in 2.5% agarose gel. The first column on the left (L) is a 50 bp DNA ladder, followed by the CHDZ/CHDW amplicons of the females, which present two bands (CHDZ = ~360 bp and CHDW = 400 bp), while males had only one band (CHDZ), with the negative control (N), consisting of only water.
Metagenomics reveals sex differences in murine fecal microbiota profile induced by chronic alcohol consumption
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Data from: Sex differences in leucocyte telomere length in a free-living mammal
Mounting evidence suggests that average telomere length reflects previous stress and predicts subsequent survival across vertebrate species. In humans, leucocyte telomere length (LTL) is consistently shorter during adulthood in males than in females, although the causes of this sex difference and its generality to other mammals remain unknown. Here, we measured LTL in a cross-sectional sample of free-living Soay sheep and found shorter telomeres in males than in females in later adulthood (>3 years of age), but not in early life. This observation was not related to sex differences in growth or parasite burden, but we did find evidence for reduced LTL associated with increased horn growth in early life in males. Variation in LTL was independent of variation in the proportions of different leucocyte cell types, which are known to differ in telomere length. Our results provide the first evidence of sex differences in LTL from a wild mammal, but longitudinal studies are now required to determine whether telomere attrition rates or selective disappearance are responsible for these observed differences.
Data from: The effect of parasites on sex differences in selection
The life history strategies of males and females are often divergent, creating the potential for sex differences in selection. Deleterious mutations may be subject to stronger selection in males, owing to sexual selection, which can improve the mean fitness of females and reduce mutation load in sexual populations. However, sex differences in selection might also maintain sexually antagonistic genetic variation, creating a sexual conflict load. The overall impact of separate sexes on fitness is unclear, but the net effect is likely to be positive when there is a large sex difference in selection against deleterious mutations. Parasites can also have sex-specific effects on fitness, and there is evidence that parasites can intensify the fitness consequences of deleterious mutations. Using lines that accumulated mutations for over 60 generations, we studied the effect of the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa on sex differences in selection in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Pseudomonas infection increased the sex difference in selection, but may also have weakened the intersexual correlation for fitness. Our results suggest that parasites may increase the benefits of sexual selection.
Data from: Sex-biased genetic component distribution among populations: additive genetic and maternal contributions to phenotypic differences among populations of Chinook salmon
An approach frequently used to demonstrate a genetic basis to population-level phenotypic differences is to employ common garden rearing designs, where observed differences are assumed to be attributable to primarily additive genetic effects. Here, in two common garden experiments, we employed factorial breeding designs between wild and domestic, and among wild populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). We measured the contribution of additive (VA) and maternal (VM) effects to the observed population differences for 17 life history and fitness-related traits. Our results show that, in general, maternal effects contribute more to phenotypic differences among populations than additive genetic effects. These results suggest that maternal effects are important in population phenotypic differentiation, and also signify that the inclusion of the maternal source of variation is critical when employing models to test population differences in salmon, such as in local adaptation studies.
Figure 3 in Parallelism in secondary loss of sex from a heterogonic life cycle on different host plants in the Andricus mukaigawae complex (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), with taxonomic notes
Figure 3. The life cycles, gall shape of unisexual generation, and suggested changes in the Andricus mukaigawae complex.
Data from: Sex differences in costly signalling in rural Western China
<p>Numerous empirical studies suggest that individuals convey their commitment to communities and impart the qualities of being a reliable partner through costly behaviours. We collected religious practices data ranging from daily trivial practices to infrequent grand distant pilgrimages in an agricultural Tibetan village. We predict that 1) villagers who invest more in religious practices are more likely to be nominated as having various prosocial qualities. 2) Investment in grand distant pilgrimages has more efficacy than daily trivial religious acts on recognition of prosocial qualities. 3) The males are more likely to receive nominations than females across all prosocial traits. Using Hurdle Models and Exponential Random Graph Models, we found that religious practice is mediated by demographic factors like wealth rank, age, and the gender. Daily religious investment positively associates with nominations of devoutness, but not with other prosocial traits. Distant pilgrimage positively associates with nominations of devoutness, as well as other prosocial traits. Females are inclined to prefer investing in daily religious acts, but males are inclined to invest in distant pilgrimages. Generally, females receive fewer nominations than males across all prosocial traits.</p>
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