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In many species, individuals can develop into strikingly different morphs,
which are determined by a simple Mendelian locus. How selection shapes
loci that control complex p henotypic differences remains poorly
understood. In the spider gibbosus, males either develop into a
‘hunched’morph with conspicuous head structures or as a fast developing
‘flat’morph with a female- like appearance. We show that the hunched
differs from the f lat-determinin g allele by a hunch-specific genomic
fragment of approximately 3 megabases. This fragment comprises dozens of
genes that duplicated from genes found at different chromosomes. All
functional duplicates, including doublesex- a key sexual differentiation
regulatory gene, show male-specific expression, which il lustrates their
combined role as a masculinizing supergene. Our findings demonstrate how
extensive indel polymorphisms and duplications of regulatory genes may
contribute to t he evolution of co-adapted gene clusters, sex-limi ted
reproductive morphs, and the enigmatic evolution of exaggerated sexual
traits in general.
203 views reported since publication in 2021.