Arrest of sex-specific adaptation during the evolution of sexual dimorphism in Drosophila

Sexually antagonistic selection arises when a trait expressed in both sexes (a shared trait) is selected towards different, sex-specific optima. Sex-discordant selection causes different alleles to be favoured in each sex (intralocus sexual conflict). A key parameter responsible for generating this conflict is the intersexual genetic correlation (rMF), which determines the degree to which heritable genetic variation for the shared trait produces a similar phenotype in both sexes. A strong, positive rMF interferes with adaptation when there is sex-discordant selection. In principle, the rMF can evolve in response to sex-discordant selection: the faster it declines, the faster the resolution of intralocus sexual conflict. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster to quantify the time scale over which a strong, positive rMF impedes a response to sex-discordant selection for a canonical quantitative trait (body size) with an exceptionally long (250 generations) selection experiment for a complex multicellular organism. We found that, compared with rapid and substantial evolution under sex-concordant selection, a high rMF arrested sex-specific adaptation for 100 generations in females and a minimum of 250 generations in males. Our study demonstrates that a high rMF can lead to a protracted period of adaptive stalemate during the evolution of sexual dimorphism.