DIET-SEX-GENOMICS · Linking genotype to phenotype - Role of diet on sex-specific reproduction
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-07-01 → 2018-06-30
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Linking genotype to phenotype - Role of diet on sex-specific reproduction
In this research programme, I sought to investigate the effects of nutrition on male and female behaviour and reproductive outputs. More specifically, I examined how the genetic makeup within each sex impacted nutritional needs and choices. Diet, physiology and the molecular details of nutrient signalling are the focus of much research in the biomedical field, due to their association with human life-span and health. This project created synergies between the biomedical field and evolutionary biology and will be of great impact to society. First, the data generated here on the impact of pathway manipulations on diet preference, in particular the results of single amino acid variations, will be novel and of immediate relevance to the field. Second, my work has the potential to highlight the importance of sex and inter-sexual genetic constraints. Much of the previous biomedical research has ignored the complications arising from differences between the sexes. Yet, it has been argued that sex-specific selection pressures and genetic constraints on physiological and behavioural dimorphism could contribute to the maintenance of deleterious genetic polymorphism in modern human populations. The results I will generate here will be immediately relevant to these issues. They will highlight the deleterious effects of sex-specific selection that are mediated by genetic variation in pathways that are evolutionarily conserved in sequence and function and shared between fruitflies and humans. The objective of this research programme was to answer the following questions: Q1. How do males and females differ in nutritional fitness effects and diet preference? Q2. What are the genes and pathways responsible for the sexually antagonistic response to diet?
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Males and females perform different reproductive roles and have adapted to these by evolving sometimes strikingly different phenotypes. A key means to observe and understand differences is to examine metabolism, with studies being able to link differences in diet composition to varying levels of phenotypes. In spite of the clear dimorphism observed across the animal kingdom, both sexes are locked into a struggle over adaptation, rooted in the fact that both sexes share an almost identical genome. Here, I propose to combine high-throughput phenotypic approaches (including quantitative genetic tools), with cutting-edge genome expression data to identify genes and genetic pathways that are involved in metabolic conflict. My first aim is to explore whether males and females differ in dietary preference using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. I will establish the extent to which genetic correlations between male and female food preferences constrain the evolution of optimal diet choice. Consequently, my second aim is to identify genes and/or genetic pathways that are responsible for differences in diet preference, and limit the dietary adaptation. Finally, I will use state-of-the-art genetic manipulations to enhance/suppress parts of the genetic pathways involved in metabolism, and will examine if these genetic modifications bring sex-specific consequences to the physiology of the organism. Understanding the genetic basis for sex differences in metabolism will aid to build complete understanding of the differences between males and females at the cellular level and provide insight into dietary and metabolic influences as well as aid human health research.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union