Molecular insights into testis evolution in primates

Mammals display a diversity of mating systems, and one aspect involves how many males a female mates with during estrous. This character has been shown to explain the bulk of variation in testicle size among mammals. Here we combined transcriptome data from different sources, and showed convergent evolution at the transcriptome level among single- and multiple-male species. We further show that transcriptome changes largely reflect histological differences, which, in turn, appear to be driven by changes in developmental timing. Finally, by studying DNA polymorphism data, we study differential relaxation on testis-related genes in single-male species.