Does developmental strategy influence the development of sex-biased gene expression?
In our new paper, (led by PhD student Jelisaveta Djordjevic) we take a first look at this question in insects by examining sex-biased gene expression across development in a hemimetabolous insect (Timema californicum). We find that sex-biased gene expression develops more gradually and to a lesser extent than in holometabolous insects.
This suggests that hemimetabolous development may constrain the evolution of sex-biased gene expression, but we need more developmental gene expression studies in hemimetabolous insects to verify this!