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The coevolution of sexual imprinting by males and females.

ABSTRACT: Sexual imprinting is the learning of a mate preference by direct observation of the phenotype of another member of the population. Sexual imprinting can be paternal, maternal, or oblique if individuals learn to prefer the phenotypes of their fathers, mothers, or other members of the population, respectively. Which phenotypes are learned can affect trait evolution and speciation rates. "Good genes" models of polygynous systems predict that females should evolve to imprint on their fathers, because paternal imprinting helps females to choose mates that will produce offspring that are both viable and sexy. Sexual imprinting by males has been observed in nature, but a theory for the evolution of sexual imprinting by males does not exist. We developed a good genes model to study the conditions under which sexual imprinting by males or by both sexes can evolve and to ask which sexual imprinting strategies maximize the fitness of the choosy sex. We found that when only males imprint, maternal imprinting is the most advantageous strategy. When both sexes imprint, it is most advantageous for both sexes to use paternal imprinting. Previous theory suggests that, in a given population, either males or females but not both will evolve choosiness in mating. We show how environmental change can lead to the evolution of sexual imprinting behavior by both sexes in the same population.

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Llano MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5513227 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The coevolution of sexual imprinting by males and females.

Gómez-Llano Miguel Angel MA Navarro-López Eva María EM Gilman Robert Tucker RT

Ecology and evolution 20160914 19

Sexual imprinting is the learning of a mate preference by direct observation of the phenotype of another member of the population. Sexual imprinting can be paternal, maternal, or oblique if individuals learn to prefer the phenotypes of their fathers, mothers, or other members of the population, respectively. Which phenotypes are learned can affect trait evolution and speciation rates. "Good genes" models of polygynous systems predict that females should evolve to imprint on their fathers, becaus ...[more]

PMID: 28725386

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Project description:Sex practices among heterosexuals are not well studied. We aimed to explore sexual practices among heterosexuals attending a sexual health clinic. This cross-sectional survey was conducted at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between March and April 2019. Data were collected on kissing, oral sex (fellatio or cunnilingus), vaginal sex, anal sex and rimming in the previous 3 months. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between engaging in anal sex and other sex practices. There were 709 participants (333 men; 376 women) who were eligible and completed the survey (response rate was 24.6%). In the past 3 months, most participants had had vaginal sex (n = 677; 95.5%), with a mean of 3.0 (standard deviation (SD): 3.9) vaginal sex partners, and half reported engaging in condomless vaginal sex in the past 3 months (n = 358; 50.1%). A total of 135 (19.0%) participants had had anal sex, with a mean of 1.3 (SD: 1.0) anal sex partners, with 63.5% (n = 94) engaging in any condomless anal sex in the past 3 months. Most participants (n = 637, 89.8%) had received oral sex in the past 3 months; this proportion did not differ by age group or gender. Women (n = 351, 93.4%) were more likely to perform oral sex than men (n = 275; 82.6% men) (p < 0.001) and to have received rimming (26.6% women vs. 12.6% men; p < 0.001). Men were more likely to have performed rimming (25.5% men vs. 9.3% women; p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, number of partners and sexual practice, anal sex was associated with being ≥35 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-4.2), receiving rimming (aOR: 3.8; 95% CI: 2.4-6.0) and performing rimming (aOR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.8-4.6). Rimming and anal sex are practiced by one-fifth or more of heterosexuals. Older heterosexuals were more likely to engage in anal sex and to perform rimming. Future research should consider the benefits of testing extragenital sites where appropriate.

Project description:Transmission is a matter of life or death for pathogen lineages and can therefore be considered as the main motor of their evolution. Gammaherpesviruses are archetypal pathogenic persistent viruses which have evolved to be transmitted in presence of specific immune response. Identifying their mode of transmission and their mechanisms of immune evasion is therefore essential to develop prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against these infections. As the known human gammaherpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus are host-specific and lack a convenient in vivo infection model; related animal gammaherpesviruses, such as murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV-68), are commonly used as general models of gammaherpesvirus infections in vivo. To date, it has however never been possible to monitor viral excretion or virus transmission of MHV-68 in laboratory mice population. In this study, we have used MHV-68 associated with global luciferase imaging to investigate potential excretion sites of this virus in laboratory mice. This allowed us to identify a genital excretion site of MHV-68 following intranasal infection and latency establishment in female mice. This excretion occurred at the external border of the vagina and was dependent on the presence of estrogens. However, MHV-68 vaginal excretion was not associated with vertical transmission to the litter or with horizontal transmission to female mice. In contrast, we observed efficient virus transmission to naïve males after sexual contact. In vivo imaging allowed us to show that MHV-68 firstly replicated in penis epithelium and corpus cavernosum before spreading to draining lymph nodes and spleen. All together, those results revealed the first experimental transmission model for MHV-68 in laboratory mice. In the future, this model could help us to better understand the biology of gammaherpesviruses and could also allow the development of strategies that could prevent the spread of these viruses in natural populations.

Dataset Information

The coevolution of sexual imprinting by males and females.

Publications

The coevolution of sexual imprinting by males and females.

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