Gene drive: progress and prospects.

Gene drive is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which selfish genetic elements manipulate gametogenesis and reproduction to increase their own transmission to the next generation. Currently, there is great excitement about the potential of harnessing such systems to control major pest and vector populations. If synthetic gene drive systems can be constructed and applied to key species, they may be able to rapidly spread either modifying or eliminating the targeted populations. This approach has been lauded as a revolutionary and efficient mechanism to control insect-borne diseases and crop pests. Driving endosymbionts have already been deployed to combat the transmission of dengue and Zika virus in mosquitoes. However, there are a variety of barriers to successfully implementing gene drive techniques in wild populations. There is a risk that targeted organisms will rapidly evolve an ability to suppress the synthetic drive system, rendering it ineffective. There are also potential risks of synthetic gene drivers invading non-target species or populations. This Special Feature covers the current state of affairs regarding both natural and synthetic gene drive systems with the aim to identify knowledge gaps. By understanding how natural drive systems spread through populations, we may be able to better predict the outcomes of synthetic drive release.

Ancient gene drives: an evolutionary paradox.

Selfish genetic elements such as selfish chromosomes increase their transmission rate relative to the rest of the genome and can generate substantial cost to the organisms that carry them. Such segregation distorters are predicted to either reach fixation (potentially causing population extinction) or, more commonly, promote the evolution of genetic suppression to restore transmission to equality. Many populations show rapid spread of segregation distorters, followed by the rapid evolution of suppression. However, not all drivers display such flux, some instead persisting at stable frequencies in natural populations for decades, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, with no sign of suppression evolving or the driver spreading to fixation. This represents a major evolutionary paradox. How can drivers be maintained in the long term at stable frequencies? And why has suppression not evolved as in many other gene drive systems? Here, we explore potential factors that may explain the persistence of drive systems, focusing on the ancient sex-ratio driver in the fly Drosophila pseudoobscura. We discuss potential solutions to the evolutionary mystery of why suppression does not appear to have evolved in this system, and address how long-term stable frequencies of gene drive can be maintained. Finally, we speculate whether ancient drivers may be functionally and evolutionarily distinct to young drive systems.

Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns.

The seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Drosophila vision to compare WIPs of male and female Drosophila simulans from replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show that WIPs modelled in Drosophila vision evolve in response to sexual selection and provide evidence that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well-described Drosophila courtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.

EB Ford revisited: assessing the long-term stability of wing-spot patterns and population genetic structure of the meadow brown butterfly on the Isles of Scilly.

Understanding selection in the wild remains a major aim of evolutionary ecology and work by Ford and colleagues on the meadow brown butterfly Maniola jurtina did much to ignite this agenda. A great deal of their work was conducted during the 1950s on the Isles of Scilly. They documented island-specific wing-spot patterns that remained consistent over about a decade, but patterns on some islands changed after environmental perturbation. It was suggested that these wing-spot patterns reflected island-specific selection and that there was little migration between islands. However, genetic studies to test the underlying assumption of restricted migration are lacking and it is also unknown whether the originally described wing-spot patterns have persisted over time. We therefore collected female butterflies from five of Ford's original study locations, including three large islands (St Mary's, St Martin's and Tresco) and two small islands (Tean and St Helen's). Wing-spot patterns had not changed appreciably over time on three of the islands (two large and one small), but were significantly different on the other two. Furthermore, analysis of 176 amplified fragment length polymorphisms revealed significant genome-wide differentiation among the five islands. Our findings are consistent with Ford's conclusions that despite the close proximity of these islands, there is restricted gene flow among them.

Intralocus sexual conflict and insecticide resistance.

The BA allele of the Drosophila cytochrome P450 gene Cyp6g1 confers resistance to a range of insecticides. It is also subject to intralocus sexual conflict when introgressed into the Canton-S background, whose collection predates the widespread use of insecticides. In this genetic background, the allele confers a pleiotropic fitness benefit to females but a cost to males, and exhibits little sexual dimorphism in conferred insecticide resistance. It is unclear whether these sexually antagonistic effects also exist in current populations that have naturally evolved with insecticides, where genetic modifiers that offset male costs might be expected to evolve. Here, we explore these issues using Drosophila melanogaster caught recently from an Australian population in which the BA allele naturally segregates. While we find increased fecundity in insecticide-resistant BA females and no consistent evidence of fitness costs in males, experimental evolution indicates balancing selection at the locus. We suggest that this apparent discrepancy may be due to reduced investment in reproduction in resistant males. Our results at the population level are consistent with previous work, and suggest that individual-level fitness assays do not always capture sexually antagonistic fitness effects that emerge in a population context.

Winter is coming: hibernation reverses the outcome of sperm competition in a fly.

Sperm commonly compete within females to fertilize ova, but research has focused on short-term sperm storage: sperm that are maintained in a female for only a few days or weeks before use. In nature, females of many species store sperm for months or years, often during periods of environmental stress, such as cold winters. Here we examine the outcome of sperm competition in the fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura, simulating the conditions in which females survive winter. We mated females to two males and then stored the female for up to 120 days at 4°C. We found that the outcome of sperm competition was consistent when sperm from two males was stored for 0, 1 or 30 days, with the last male to mate fathering most of the offspring. However, when females were stored in the cold for 120 days, the last male to mate fathered less than 5% of the offspring. Moreover, when sperm were stored long term the first male fathered almost all offspring even when he carried a meiotic driving sex chromosome that drastically reduces sperm competitive success under short-term storage conditions. This suggests that long-term sperm storage can radically alter the outcome of sperm competition.

The impact of Wolbachia, male age and mating history on cytoplasmic incompatibility and sperm transfer in Drosophila simulans.

Most insects harbour a variety of maternally inherited endosymbionts, the most widespread being Wolbachia pipientis that commonly induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and reduced hatching success in crosses between infected males and uninfected females. High temperature and increasing male age are known to reduce the level of CI in a variety of insects. In Drosophila simulans, infected males have been shown to mate at a higher rate than uninfected males. By examining the impact of mating rate independent of age, this study investigates whether a high mating rate confers an advantage to infected males through restoring their compatibility with uninfected females over and above the effect of age. The impact of Wolbachia infection, male mating rate and age on the number of sperm transferred to females during copulation and how it relates to CI expression was also assessed. As predicted, we found that reproductive compatibility was restored faster in males that mate at higher rate than that of low mating and virgin males, and that the effect of mating history was over and above the effect of male age. Nonvirgin infected males transferred fewer sperm than uninfected males during copulation, and mating at a high rate resulted in the transfer of fewer sperm per mating irrespective of infection status. These results indicate that the advantage to infected males of mating at a high rate is through restoration of reproductive compatibility with uninfected females, whereas uninfected males appear to trade off the number of sperm transferred per mating with female encounter rate and success in sperm competition. This study highlights the importance Wolbachia may play in sexual selection by affecting male reproductive strategies.

The consequences of genetic variation in sex peptide expression levels for egg laying and retention in females.

The accessory gland proteins (Acps) that male Drosophila melanogaster produce and transfer to females during copulation are key to male and female fitness. One Acp, the sex peptide (SP), is largely responsible for a dramatic increase in female egg laying and decrease in female receptivity after copulation. While genetic variation in male SP expression levels correlate with refractory period duration in females, it is unknown whether male SP expression influences female egg laying or if any effect of SP is mediated by SP retention in the female reproductive tract. Here we measured the amount of SP retained in the female reproductive tract after mating and female egg laying after copulating with virgin males. We found no correlation between male SP expression levels and egg laying, or the amount of SP in the female reproductive tract after mating. Additionally, the amount of SP retained in the female did not influence egg laying. These finding suggests that additional factors, such as variation in other Acps, are important for the retention of SP in females and its quantitative effects on egg laying. It also shows that egg laying and refractory period response to SP is at least partially uncoupled.

DDT resistance, epistasis and male fitness in flies.

In Drosophila melanogaster, the DDT resistance allele (DDT-R) is beneficial in the presence of DDT. Interestingly, DDT-R also elevates female fitness in the absence of DDT and existed in populations before DDT use. However, DDT-R did not spread regardless of DDT-independent selective advantages in females. We ask whether sexual antagonism could explain why DDT-R did not spread before pesticide use. We tested pre- and post-copulatory male fitness correlates in two genetic backgrounds into which we backcrossed the DDT-R allele. We found costs to DDT-R that depended on the genetic background in which DDT-R was found and documented strong epistasis between genetic background and DDT-R that influenced male size. Although it remains unclear whether DDT-R is generally sexually antagonistic, or whether the fitness costs noted would be sufficient to retard the spread of DDT-R in the absence of DDT, general fitness advantages to DDT-R in the absence of DDT may be unlikely.

Wolbachia infection lowers fertile sperm transfer in a moth.

The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis manipulates host reproduction by rendering infected males reproductively incompatible with uninfected females (cytoplasmic incompatibility; CI). CI is believed to occur as a result of Wolbachia-induced modifications to sperm during maturation, which prevent infected sperm from initiating successful zygote development when fertilizing uninfected females' eggs. However, the mechanism by which CI occurs has been little studied outside the genus Drosophila. Here, we show that in the sperm heteromorphic Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella, infected males transfer fewer fertile sperm at mating than uninfected males. In contrast, non-fertile apyrene sperm are not affected. This indicates that Wolbachia may only affect fertile sperm production and highlights the potential of the Lepidoptera as a model for examining the mechanism by which Wolbachia induces CI in insects.

Genotype-by-environment interactions for female preference.

Sexual selection is responsible for many of the most spectacular displays in nature, and female preference for certain males is central to much of this. However, female preference is relatively poorly understood, particularly the relative importance of a female's genes, the environment and their interaction on her preference. We investigated preference in a no-choice design using Drosophila melanogaster iso-female lines and find that there are genotype-by-environment interactions for female preference. Whereas the choosiness of some female genotypes differed little across environments, that of others differed greatly, so that the choosiness rank of females in one environment did not necessarily predict their rank in another. Furthermore, the genetic variance underlying preference also varied across environments. These findings have important consequences for the evolution of female preference and the male sexual traits preference targets.

Variation in sex peptide expression in D. melanogaster.

Male Drosophila melanogaster transfers many accessory-gland proteins to females during copulation. Sex peptide (SP) is one of these and one of its main effects is to decrease female remating propensity. To date, there has been no investigation of genetic variation in SP-gene expression levels, or if such potential variation directly influences female remating behaviour. We assessed both these possibilities and found significant variation in expression levels of the SP gene across D. melanogaster isolines. A non-linear association between SP expression levels and female remating delay suggestive of disruptive selection on expression levels was also documented. Finally, while some isolines were infected with the endosymbiont Wolbachia, no association between Wolbachia and SP expression level was found.

Monogamy and the battle of the sexes.

Sexual conflict has been suggested to be important in the evolution of reproductive traits, with much recent theoretical and empirical evidence emphasizing its role in generating sexually antagonistic coevolution in the context of promiscuous mating. Here we shift attention to the role of sexual conflict in a monogamous mating context. Conflicts can arise, for example, when males are successful in imposing monandry at a cost to female fitness, or when females impose monogyny on males. Conflict over remating can also generate monogamy. For example, when males invest heavily in attempting to impose female monandry, the cost of their investment may prevent them from securing additional mates. We emphasize that sexual conflicts need not always generate sexually antagonistic coevolution, and that it is important to consider whether mating decisions are controlled primarily by males or females. Finally, we briefly discuss approaches to distinguish between conflict and classical modes of sexual selection, as this highlights difficulties associated with deciding whether monogamy is enforced by one sex or the other. We suggest that documenting the current fitness consequences of mate choice and mating patterns provides insight into the relative importance of classic and conflict modes of selection.

Selfish genetic elements promote polyandry in a fly.

It is unknown why females mate with multiple males when mating is frequently costly and a single copulation often provides enough sperm to fertilize all a female's eggs. One possibility is that remating increases the fitness of offspring, because fertilization success is biased toward the sperm of high-fitness males. We show that female Drosophila pseudoobscura evolved increased remating rates when exposed to the risk of mating with males carrying a deleterious sex ratio-distorting gene that also reduces sperm competitive ability. Because selfish genetic elements that reduce sperm competitive ability are generally associated with low genetic fitness, they may represent a common driver of the evolution of polyandry.

Sperm competition, immunity, selfish genes and cancer.

Sperm competition is widespread and has played an important role in shaping male reproductive characters such as testis size and numbers of sperm produced, and this is reflected in the rapid evolution of many reproductive genes. Additionally, sperm competition has been implicated in the rapid evolution of seminal fluids. However, our understanding of the molecular basis of many traits thought to be important in sperm competition is rudimentary. Furthermore, links between sperm competition and a range of issues not directly related to reproduction are only just beginning to be explored. These include associations between sperm competition and selfish genes, immunity and diseases such as cancer.We briefly review these topics and suggest areas we consider worthy of additional research.

Increased male mating rate in Drosophila is associated with Wolbachia infection.

The maternally inherited bacterium Wolbachia pipientis infects 25-75% of arthropods and manipulates host reproduction to improve its transmission. One way Wolbachia achieves this is by inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), where crosses between infected males and uninfected females are inviable. Infected males suffer reduced fertility through CI and reduced sperm production. However, Wolbachia induce lower levels of CI in nonvirgin males. We examined the impact of Wolbachia on mating behaviour in male Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, which display varying levels of CI, and show that infected males mate at a higher rate than uninfected males in both species. This may serve to increase the spread of Wolbachia, or alternatively, may be a behavioural adaptation employed by males to reduce the level of CI. Mating at high rate restores reproductive compatibility with uninfected females resulting in higher male reproductive success thus promoting male promiscuity. Increased male mating rates also have implications for the transmission of Wolbachia.

Male genotype affects female fitness in a paternally investing species.

Male nutrient provisioning is widespread in insects. Females of some species use male-derived nutrients for increased longevity and reproductive output. Despite much research into the consequences of paternal nutrient investment for male and female fitness, the heritability, and therefore the potential of this trait to respond to selection, has rarely been examined. Males of several butterfly species provide the female with nutrients in the spermatophore at mating. Females of the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) use male donations both for developing eggs (resulting in higher lifetime fecundity of multiply mated females), but also for their somatic maintenance (increasing longevity). Using half-sib, father-son regression and full-sib analyses, I showed that paternal nutrient investment is heritable, both in terms of the absolute but also the relative size of the spermatophore (controlling for body size). Male size and spermatophore size were also genetically correlated. Furthermore, a separate study showed male genotype had a significant effect on female longevity and lifetime fecundity. In contrast, male genotype had no influence on the immediate egg-laying rate of females following mating, suggesting limited scope for male manipulation of immediate female oviposition. These results indicate that females may derive both direct (increased lifetime fecundity and longevity) and indirect (sons with greater reproductive success) fitness benefits from paternal nutrient donations in this species.

Can cytoplasmic incompatibility inducing Wolbachia promote the evolution of mate preferences?

The maternally inherited bacterium, Wolbachia pipientis, manipulates host reproduction by rendering uninfected females reproductively incompatible with infected males (cytoplasmic incompatibility, CI). Hosts may evolve mechanisms, such as mate preferences, to avoid fitness costs of Wolbachia infection. Despite the potential importance of mate choice for Wolbachia population dynamics, this possibility remains largely unexplored. Here we model the spread of an allele encoding female mate preference for uninfected males alongside the spread of CI inducing Wolbachia. Mate preferences can evolve but the spread of the preference allele depends on factors associated with both Wolbachia infection and the preference allele itself. Incomplete maternal transmission of Wolbachia, fitness costs and low CI, improve the spread of the preference allele and impact on the population dynamics of Wolbachia. In addition, mate preferences are found in infected individuals. These results have important consequences for the fate of Wolbachia and studies addressing mate preferences in infected populations.

Paternal investment directly affects female reproductive effort in an insect.

Female reproductive effort can be influenced by the quality of her mate. In some species, females increase their reproductive effort by differentially allocating resources after mating with high-quality males. Examination of female reproductive effort in relation to male quality has implications for estimating the evolvability of traits and for sexual-selection models. Accurate quantification of reproductive investment is not possible in many species. Butterflies are an exception, as most nectar-feeding species emerge with almost intact reproductive resources, and in some species males provide nutrients at mating that enhance female fecundity. By manipulating male donations and using radioactive isotopes, we quantified the effect of variation in nutrient provisioning on female reproductive effort in two butterfly species. In the greenveined white butterfly, Pieris napi, females increased their reproductive effort after receiving large male donations. By contrast, in the speckled wood, Pararge aegeria, where males do not provide nutrients, female reproductive effort was independent of male ejaculate. Increased reproductive effort in Pieris napi resulted from the production of more eggs, rather than from investing more resources per egg. In this species donating ability is heritable; hence females laying more eggs after mating with high-donating males benefit both through higher fecundity and through the production of high-donating sons.