Ecology drives intragenomic conflict over menopause |
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Authors: | Francisco Úbeda Hisashi Ohtsuki Andy Gardner |
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Affiliation: | 1. School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, , Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX UK;2. Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, , Kanagawa, Hayama, 240‐0193 Japan;3. School of Biology, University of St Andrews, , St Andrews, KY16 9TH UK |
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Abstract: | Menopause is the transition from reproductive to non‐reproductive life well before natural death. Rather than involving a smooth, rapid change, it is normally preceded by a long period of erratic hormonal fluctuation that is accompanied by a plethora of unpleasant symptoms. Here, we (1) suggest that this turbulent period owes to conflict, between a woman's maternally inherited (MI) and paternally inherited (PI) genes, over the trade‐off between reproduction and communal care; (2) perform a theoretical analysis to show that this conflict is resolved either through silencing or fluctuating expression of one of the genes; (3) highlight which of the symptoms preceding menopause may result from antagonistic co‐evolution of MI and PI genes; (4) argue that ecological differences between ancestral human populations may explain the variability in menopause among different ethnic groups; (5) discuss how these insights may be used to inform family planning and cancer risk assessment based on a woman's ancestral background. |
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Keywords: | Cancer cooperation demography fertility game theory genomic imprinting humans hunter gatherers kin selection migration |
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