A supergene affects steroid metabolism during early ontogeny in a bird with alternative reproductive morphs
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Reproductive phenotypes are shaped by genetic, physiological and environmental variation that an organism experiences during ontogeny. Steroid hormones play an integrative role in this process through both genomic and non-genomic pathways. Differences in steroid hormone metabolism may be rooted in genomic variation. Here we evaluate the influence of supergene variants underlying alternative reproductive tactics on sex steroid metabolism during ontogeny in ruffs (Calidris pugnax). Adult ruff males exhibit three male mating morphs called Independents, Faeders and Satellites, that differ prominently in circulating androgen (testosterone and androstenedione) concentrations. Across morphs and sexes chicks showed similar mean androgen concentrations during ontogenetic development. However, variances in circulating androgens showed the same pattern as corresponding variances previously observed in adults. HSD17B2 had been previously identified as a key gene for mediating differences in androgen levels between morphs as it encodes the enzyme that converts testosterone to androstenedione and is located within the supergene. Observed HSD17B2 expression in embryonic brain tissue was consistent with predictions based on genetic and endocrine differences. Taken together, the observed differences in circulating androgen concentrations and gene expression point to testosterone synthesis as a key mechanism that shapes developmental trajectories and differences in brain organization among morphs.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".