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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)
DOI PMC
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
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0036-8075
e-ISSN 1095-9203
Journal Science
Quellenangaben Volume: 387, Issue: 6732, Pages: 406-412 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Diabetes and Cancer (IDC)