Sexual size dimorphism in mammals is associated with changes in the size of gene families related to brain development

Abstract

In mammals, sexual size dimorphism often reflects the intensity of sexual selection, yet its connection to genomic evolution remains unexplored. Gene family size evolution can reflect shifts in the relative importance of different molecular functions. Here, we investigate the associate between brain development gene repertoire to sexual size dimorphism using 124 mammalian species. We reveal significant changes in gene family size associations with sexual size dimorphism. High levels of dimorphism correlate with an expansion of gene families enriched in olfactory sensory perception and a contraction of gene families associated with brain development functions, many of which exhibited particularly high expression in the human adult brain. These findings suggest a relationship between intense sexual selection and alterations in gene family size. These insights illustrate the complex interplay between sexual dimorphism, gene family size evolution, and their roles in mammalian brain development and function, offering a valuable understanding of mammalian genome evolution.

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Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Padilla-Morales, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7719-4072 Acuña-Alonzo, A.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0112-318X Kilili, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4160-5888 Castillo-Morales, A. Díaz-Barba, K. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4666-9447 Maher, K.H. Fabian, L. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3145-5357 Mourkas, E. Székely, T. Serrano-Meneses, M.-A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0163-4983 Cortez, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0654-6349 Ancona, S. Urrutia, A.O. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9011-8675
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2024. s This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords:	Gene expression profiling; Genetics of the nervous system; Sexual selection
Dates:	Published: 24 July 2024 Published (online): 24 July 2024 Accepted: 3 July 2024 Submitted: 5 May 2023
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	06 Aug 2024 07:21
Last Modified:	06 Aug 2024 07:21
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41467-024-50386-x
Related URLs:	Software or Code
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:215455

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Sexual size dimorphism in mammals is associated with changes in the size of gene families related to brain development

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