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Release from intralocus sexual conflict? Evolved loss of a male sexual trait demasculinizes female gene expression

The loss of sexual ornaments is observed across taxa, and pleiotropic effects of such losses provide an opportunity to gain insight into underlying dynamics of sex-biased gene expression and intralocus sexual conflict (IASC). We investigated this in a Hawaiian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus, in which an X-linked genotype (flatwing) feminizes males' wings and eliminates their ability to produce sexually selected songs. We profiled adult gene expression across somatic and reproductive tissues of both sexes. Despite the feminizing effect of flatwing on male wings, we found no evidence of feminized gene expression in males. Instead, female transcriptomes were more strongly affected by flatwing than males’, and exhibited demasculinized gene expression. These findings are consistent with a relaxation of IASC constraining female gene expression through loss of a male sexual ornament. In a follow-up experiment, we found reduced testes mass in flatwing males, whereas female carriers showed no reduction in egg production. By contrast, female carriers exhibited greater measures of body condition. Our results suggest sex-limited phenotypic expression offers only partial resolution to IASC, owing to pleiotropic effects of the loci involved. Benefits conferred by release from intralocus conflict could help explain widespread loss of sexual ornaments across taxa.