title: Ecology drives intragenomic conflict over menopause.
abstract: Menopause is the transition from reproductive to non-reproductive life well before natural death. Rather than involving a smooth, rapid change, it is normally preceded by a long period of erratic hormonal fluctuation that is accompanied by a plethora of unpleasant symptoms. Here, we (1) suggest that this turbulent period owes to conflict, between a woman's maternally inherited (MI) and paternally inherited (PI) genes, over the trade-off between reproduction and communal care; (2) perform a theoretical analysis to show that this conflict is resolved either through silencing or fluctuating expression of one of the genes; (3) highlight which of the symptoms preceding menopause may result from antagonistic co-evolution of MI and PI genes; (4) argue that ecological differences between ancestral human populations may explain the variability in menopause among different ethnic groups; (5) discuss how these insights may be used to inform family planning and cancer risk assessment based on a woman's ancestral background.
authors: School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Úbeda
authors: Hisashi
authors: H
authors: Ohtsuki
authors: Andy
authors: A
authors: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D008593:Menopause / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008957:Models, Genetic
keywords: Cancer; cooperation; demography; fertility; game theory; genomic imprinting; humans; hunter gatherers; kin selection; migration