Kikikose Lucas Marie Orleach

Cette semaine, nous accueillons Lucas Marie Orleach (postdoc, ECOBIO, Univ Rennes1). Il nous présentera ses travaux sur "The effects of sexual reproduction on evolution: sexual selection, sexual isolation and self-fertilisation.".

Sexual reproduction plays critical roles in evolution – it can for instance generate intense periods of selection, constitute isolating barriers between diverging populations, and can take very different forms within life. During this talk, I will summarise my research along three topics on sexual reproduction.

First, in many species, sexual selection may occur before, during, and after copulation. In a series of experiments using the flatworm Macrostomum lignano, I studied sperm competition in vivo, and quantified the strength of selection along pre- and postcopulatory episodes of selection.

Second, sexual isolation between closely related species is usually though to be innate. By using several populations and species on the Drosophila genus, I studied if and how the social environment experienced by males can influence pre- and postcopulatory components of sexual isolation.

Third, many plant and animal species can self-fertilise, which has cascading effects onto populations genetics and macroevolution. I built simulation models predicting how reproductive isolation builds in selfing compared to outcrossing lineages, which I tested using crossing experiments involving multiple plant species.