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Loveland, J.L.* ; Zemella, A.* ; Jovanović, V.M.* ; Möller, G. ; Sager, C.P.* ; Bastos, B.* ; Dyar, K.A. ; Fusani, L.* ; Gahr, M.* ; Giraldo-Deck, L.M.* ; Goymann, W.* ; Lank, D.B.* ; Tokarz, J. ; Nowick, K.* ; Küpper, C.*

A single gene orchestrates androgen variation underlying male mating morphs in ruffs.

Science 387, 406-412 (2025)

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Open Access Green as soon as Postprint is submitted to ZB.

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Androgens are pleiotropic and play pivotal roles in the formation and variation of sexual phenotypes. We show that differences in circulating androgens between the three male mating morphs in ruff sandpipers are linked to 17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (HSD17B2), encoded by a gene within the supergene that determines the morphs. Low-testosterone males had higher HSD17B2 expression in blood than high-testosterone males, as well as in brain areas related to social behaviors and testosterone production. Derived HSD17B2 isozymes, which are absent in high-testosterone males but preferentially expressed in low-testosterone males, converted testosterone to androstenedione faster than the ancestral isozyme. Thus, a combination of evolutionary changes in regulation, sequence, and structure of a single gene introduces endocrine variation underlying reproductive phenotypes.

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Publication type Article: Journal article

Document type Scientific Article

Corresponding Author

Keywords Social-behavior Network; Hormonal Pleiotropy; Japanese-quail; Messenger-rna; Male Traits; Testosterone; System; Brain; Evolution; Performance

ISSN (print) / ISBN 0036-8075

e-ISSN 1095-9203

Journal Science

Quellenangaben Volume: 387, Issue: 6732, Pages: 406-412

Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Publishing Place 1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, Dc 20005 Usa

Non-patent literature Publications

Reviewing status Peer reviewed

Institute(s) Institute of Diabetes and Cancer (IDC)

Grants Max Planck Society
National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Helmholtz Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health
Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
German Research Foundation (DFG)