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

Padilla-Morales, Benjamin, Acuña-Alonzo, Alin P., Kilili, Huseyin, Castillo Morales, Atahualpa, Díaz-Barba, Karina, Maher, Kathryn H., Fabian, Laurie, Mourkas, Evangelos, Székely, Tamás, Serrano-Meneses, Martin-Alejandro, Cortez, Diego, Ancona, Sergio and Urrutia, Araxi O. 2024. Sexual size dimorphism in mammals is associated with changes in the size of gene families related to brain development. Nature Communications 15 (1) , 6257. 10.1038/s41467-024-50386-x

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Nature Research
ISSN:	2041-1723
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 July 2024
Date of Acceptance:	3 July 2024
Last Modified:	26 Jul 2024 08:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170944

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