Molecular evolution of sex-biased genes

From EESwiki

Genes that are expressed at a higher level in one sex than in the other are known as sex-biased genes. These genes, especially those expressed predominantly in males, tend to evolve rapidly between species and appear to be frequent targets of positive selection. We are investigating the molecular evolution of sex-biased genes in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and other closely-related species. This involves DNA sequencing of sex-biased genes in population samples to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the statistical analysis of SNP data to determine the type and strength of selection acting on different classes of genes (male-biased, female-biased, unbiased).