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Temperature Drives the Evolutionary Diversification of Male Harm in Drosophila melanogaster Flies

Londoño-Nieto, Claudia ; Butler-Margalef, Michael ; García-Roa, Roberto LU and Carazo, Pau (2025) In Ecology Letters 28(3).
Abstract

Sexual selection often leads to sexual conflict via pre-copulatory (harassment) and/or copulatory (traumatic insemination) male harm to females, impacting population growth, adaptation and evolutionary rescue. Male harm mechanisms are diverse and taxonomically widespread, but we largely ignore what ecological factors modulate their diversification. Here, we conducted experimental evolution under low- (20°C ± 4°C), moderate- (24°C ± 4°C) and high-temperature (28°C ± 4°C) regimes in Drosophila melanogaster, a species with male harm via harassment and seminal fluid proteins (SFPs), to show that temperature drives the divergent evolution of sexual conflict. At the low-temperature regime, evolution resulted in reduced and less plastic... (More)

Sexual selection often leads to sexual conflict via pre-copulatory (harassment) and/or copulatory (traumatic insemination) male harm to females, impacting population growth, adaptation and evolutionary rescue. Male harm mechanisms are diverse and taxonomically widespread, but we largely ignore what ecological factors modulate their diversification. Here, we conducted experimental evolution under low- (20°C ± 4°C), moderate- (24°C ± 4°C) and high-temperature (28°C ± 4°C) regimes in Drosophila melanogaster, a species with male harm via harassment and seminal fluid proteins (SFPs), to show that temperature drives the divergent evolution of sexual conflict. At the low-temperature regime, evolution resulted in reduced and less plastic harassment (i.e., pre-copulatory harm) while at the high-temperature regime, it was characterised by responses in the seminal proteome driven by differential expression of SFPs. Our results suggest that temperature can be key to understanding the past diversification and future (global warming) evolution of sexual conflict, and the maintenance of genetic variation in male harm traits.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
drosophila, ecology, experimental evolution, male harm, sexual conflict, sexual selection, SFPs, temperature
in
Ecology Letters
volume
28
issue
3
article number
e70102
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:105000227361
  • pmid:40111011
ISSN
1461-023X
DOI
10.1111/ele.70102
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
89a470e1-4ac4-499d-ab89-e0dafbc64aff
date added to LUP
2026-01-30 12:53:11
date last changed
2026-01-30 12:54:29
@article{89a470e1-4ac4-499d-ab89-e0dafbc64aff,
  abstract     = {{<p>Sexual selection often leads to sexual conflict via pre-copulatory (harassment) and/or copulatory (traumatic insemination) male harm to females, impacting population growth, adaptation and evolutionary rescue. Male harm mechanisms are diverse and taxonomically widespread, but we largely ignore what ecological factors modulate their diversification. Here, we conducted experimental evolution under low- (20°C ± 4°C), moderate- (24°C ± 4°C) and high-temperature (28°C ± 4°C) regimes in Drosophila melanogaster, a species with male harm via harassment and seminal fluid proteins (SFPs), to show that temperature drives the divergent evolution of sexual conflict. At the low-temperature regime, evolution resulted in reduced and less plastic harassment (i.e., pre-copulatory harm) while at the high-temperature regime, it was characterised by responses in the seminal proteome driven by differential expression of SFPs. Our results suggest that temperature can be key to understanding the past diversification and future (global warming) evolution of sexual conflict, and the maintenance of genetic variation in male harm traits.</p>}},
  author       = {{Londoño-Nieto, Claudia and Butler-Margalef, Michael and García-Roa, Roberto and Carazo, Pau}},
  issn         = {{1461-023X}},
  keywords     = {{drosophila; ecology; experimental evolution; male harm; sexual conflict; sexual selection; SFPs; temperature}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Ecology Letters}},
  title        = {{Temperature Drives the Evolutionary Diversification of Male Harm in Drosophila melanogaster Flies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele.70102}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/ele.70102}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}