Mate choice for more melanin as a mechanism to maintain a functional oncogene.
نویسندگان
چکیده
The mechanisms by which cancer evolves and persists in natural systems have been difficult to ascertain. In the Xiphophorus melanoma model, a functional oncogene (Xiphophorus melanoma receptor kinase Xmrk) has been maintained for several million years despite being deleterious and in an extremely unstable genomic region. Melanomas in Xiphophorus spp. fishes (platyfishes and swordtails) have been investigated since the 1920s, and, yet, positive selection that could explain the maintenance of Xmrk has not been found. Here, we show that Xiphophorus cortezi females from two populations prefer males with the spotted caudal (Sc) melanin pattern, which is associated with the presence of the Xmrk oncogene and serves as the site of melanoma formation within this species. Moreover, X. cortezi females prefer males with an enhanced Sc to males with a reduced Sc pattern. RT-PCR analysis confirms tissue-specific Xmrk expression within the Sc pattern in X. cortezi. Because of the association of Xmrk with the Sc pigment pattern and the fact that melanoma formation augments this visual signal, sexual selection appears to be maintaining this oncogene because of a mating preference for Sc, as well as the exaggeration of this male trait. At the individual level, decreases in viability and fecundity because of Xmrk and subsequent melanoma formation may be mitigated via increases in mate acquisition. At the population level, maintenance of this oncogene appears to be under frequency dependent selection, as we detected female preference for males without Sc in a third population that had higher frequencies of Sc in females.
منابع مشابه
Discovery of Mate Selection Attitudes of Single Girls: A Qualitative Study
Purpose: Mate selection and having a happy and successful marriage is one of the most important issues in the lives of many. One of the issues that affects the success rate of mate selection is the attitude toward this choice. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of mate selection of single Iranian girls. Methods: This study was carried out with qualitative method, using thema...
متن کاملسبک های همسرگزینی (سنتی، آزاد و ترکیبی) و رضایت زناشویی در پرستاران
Research shows that mate-selection styles have an important role in marital and relationship satisfaction. This study was conducted with purpose of to compare of marital satisfaction in married nurses according to mate-selection styles (free choice, arranged and mixed marriage). The present survey was descriptive-causal comparative study. A sample of 222 married nurses were selected using rando...
متن کاملEvolution of sexual dichromatism: contribution of carotenoid- versus melananin-based coloration
In birds, carotenoid-based plumage coloration is more dependent on physical condition and foraging abilities and less constrained developmentally than is melanin-based coloration. Thus, female mate choice for honest signals should result in more intense sexual selection on carotenoidthan on melanin-based plumage coloration. Using variation in sexual dimorphism as an indirect measure of the inte...
متن کاملMHC-mediated mate choice increases parasite resistance in salmon.
Natural (parasite-driven) and sexual selection are thought to maintain high polymorphism in the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), but support for a link between mate choice, MHC variation and increased parasite resistance is circumstantial. We compared MHC diversity and Anisakis loads among anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) returning to four rivers to spawn, which h...
متن کاملBeauty and the beast: mechanisms of sexual selection in humans
Literature in evolutionary psychology suggests that mate choice has been the primary mechanism of sexual selection in humans, but this conclusion conforms neither to theoretical predictions nor available evidence. Contests override other mechanisms of sexual selection; that is, when individuals can exclude their competitors by force or threat of force, mate choice, sperm competition, and other ...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
دوره 105 36 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008