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Firman RC, Rubenstein DR, Buzatto BA. The spatial and temporal distribution of females influence the evolution of testes size in Australian rodents. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220058. [PMID: 35506236 PMCID: PMC9065955 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Male-male competition after mating (sperm competition) favours adaptations in male traits, such as elevated sperm numbers facilitated by larger testes. Ultimately, patterns of female distribution will affect the strength of sperm competition by dictating the extent to which males are able to prevent female remating. Despite this, our understanding of how the spatial and temporal distributions of mating opportunities have shaped the evolutionary course of sperm competition is limited. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to explore interspecific variation in testes size in relation to patterns of female distribution in Australian rodents. We find that as mating season length (temporal distribution of females) increases, testes size decreases, which is consistent with the idea that it is difficult for males to prevent females from remating when overlap among oestrous females is temporally concentrated. Additionally, we find that social species (spatially clustered) have smaller testes than non-social species (spatially dispersed). This result suggests that males may be effective in monopolizing reproduction within social groups, which leads to reduced levels of sperm competition relative to non-social species where free-ranging females cannot be controlled. Overall, our results show that patterns of female distribution, in both space and time, can influence the strength of post-mating sexual selection among species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renée C. Firman
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Dustin R. Rubenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Bruno A. Buzatto
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5052, Australia,Department of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, Macquarie Park, NSW 2109, Australia
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Wakabayashi H, Saitoh T. Estimation of multiple male mating frequency using paternity skew: An example from a grey-sided vole (Myodes rufocanus) population. Mol Ecol Resour 2019; 20:444-456. [PMID: 31736261 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Multiple male mating (MMM) causes sperm competition, which may play an important role in the evolution of reproductive traits. The frequency of multiple paternity (MP), where multiple males sire offspring within a single litter, has been used as an index of MMM frequency. However, MP frequency is necessarily lower than MMM frequency. The magnitude of the difference between MMM and MP frequency depends on litter size (LS) and fertilization probability skew (FPS), and this difference may be meaningfully large in animals with small LSs. In this study, we propose a method to estimate MMM frequency using an individual-based model with three variables (MP frequency, LS and FPS). We incorporated observed paternity skew data to infer a possible range of FPS that cannot be measured in free-living populations and tested the validity of our method using a data set from a grey-sided vole (Myodes rufocanus) population and from hypothetical populations. MP was found in 50 out of 215 litters (23.3%) in the grey-sided vole population, while MMM frequency was estimated in 67 of 215 litters (31.2%), with a certainty range of 59-88 (27.4%-40.9%). The point estimation of MMM frequency was realized, and the certainty range was limited within the practical range. The use of observed paternity skew was very effective at narrowing the certainty range of the estimate. Our method could contribute to a deeper understanding of the ecology of MMM in free-living populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroko Wakabayashi
- Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Takashi Saitoh
- Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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Patlar B, Ramm SA. Genotype‐by‐environment interactions for seminal fluid expression and sperm competitive ability. J Evol Biol 2019; 33:225-236. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 10/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bahar Patlar
- Evolutionary Biology Bielefeld University Bielefeld Germany
| | - Steven A. Ramm
- Evolutionary Biology Bielefeld University Bielefeld Germany
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4
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Lehnert SJ, Butts IAE, Flannery EW, Peters KM, Heath DD, Pitcher TE. Effects of ovarian fluid and genetic differences on sperm performance and fertilization success of alternative reproductive tactics in Chinook salmon. J Evol Biol 2017; 30:1236-1245. [PMID: 28387056 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2016] [Revised: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 03/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
In many species, sperm velocity affects variation in the outcome of male competitive fertilization success. In fishes, ovarian fluid (OF) released with the eggs can increase male sperm velocity and potentially facilitate cryptic female choice for males of specific phenotypes and/or genotypes. Therefore, to investigate the effect of OF on fertilization success, we measured sperm velocity and conducted in vitro competitive fertilizations with paired Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) males representing two alternative reproductive tactics, jacks (small sneaker males) and hooknoses (large guarding males), in the presence of river water alone and OF mixed with river water. To determine the effect of genetic differences on fertilization success, we genotyped fish at neutral (microsatellites) and functional [major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II ß1] markers. We found that when sperm were competed in river water, jacks sired significantly more offspring than hooknoses; however, in OF, there was no difference in paternity between the tactics. Sperm velocity was significantly correlated with paternity success in river water, but not in ovarian fluid. Paternity success in OF, but not in river water alone, was correlated with genetic relatedness between male and female, where males that were less related to the female attained greater paternity. We found no relationship between MHC II ß1 divergence between mates and paternity success in water or OF. Our results indicate that OF can influence the outcome of sperm competition in Chinook salmon, where OF provides both male tactics with fertilization opportunities, which may in part explain what maintains both tactics in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Lehnert
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - I A E Butts
- School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - E W Flannery
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - K M Peters
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - D D Heath
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
| | - T E Pitcher
- Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
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Firman RC, Young FJ, Rowe DC, Duong HT, Gasparini C. Sexual rest and post-meiotic sperm ageing in house mice. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1373-82. [PMID: 26012513 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2015] [Revised: 05/17/2015] [Accepted: 05/20/2015] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Fertilization by aged sperm can result in adverse fitness consequences for both males and females. Sperm storage during male sexual rest could provide an environment for post-meiotic sperm senescence causing a deterioration in the quality of stored sperm, possibly impacting on both sperm performance (e.g. swimming ability) and DNA quality. Here, we compared the proportion of sperm with fragmented DNA, an indicator of structural damage of DNA within the sperm cell, among males that had been sexually rested for approximately 2 months, to that of males that had mated recently. We found no evidence of intra-epididymal sperm DNA damage or any impairment in sperm performance, and consequently no evidence of post-meiotic sperm senescence. Our results suggest that male house mice are likely to possess mechanisms that function to ensure that their sperm reserves remain stocked with 'young', viable sperm during periods of sexual inactivity. We also discuss the possibility that our experimental design leads to no difference in the age of sperm among males from the two mating treatments. Post-meiotic sperm senescence is especially relevant under sperm competition. Thus, we sourced mice from populations that differed in their levels of post-copulatory sexual selection, enabling us to gain insight into how selection for higher sperm production influences the rate of sperm ageing and levels of DNA fragmentation. We found that males from the population that produced the highest number of sperm also had the smallest proportion of DNA-fragmented sperm and discuss this outcome in relation to selection acting upon males to ensure that they produce ejaculates with high-quality sperm that are successful in achieving fertilizations under competitive conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R C Firman
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - F J Young
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - D C Rowe
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - H T Duong
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - C Gasparini
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.,Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Firman RC, Simmons LW. No evidence of conpopulation sperm precedence between allopatric populations of house mice. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107472. [PMID: 25295521 PMCID: PMC4189782 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/16/2014] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Investigations into the evolution of reproductive barriers have traditionally focused on closely related species, and the prevalence of conspecific sperm precedence. The effectiveness of conspecific sperm precedence at limiting gene exchange between species suggests that gametic isolation is an important component of reproductive isolation. However, there is a paucity of tests for evidence of sperm precedence during the earlier stages of divergence, for example among isolated populations. Here, we sourced individuals from two allopatric populations of house mice (Mus domesticus) and performed competitive in vitro fertilisation assays to test for conpopulation sperm precedence specifically at the gametic level. We found that ova population origin did not influence the outcome of the sperm competitions, and thus provide no evidence of conpopulation or heteropopulation sperm precedence. Instead, we found that males from a population that had evolved under a high level of postcopulatory sexual selection consistently outcompeted males from a population that had evolved under a relatively lower level of postcopulatory sexual selection. We standardised the number of motile sperm of each competitor across the replicate assays. Our data therefore show that competitive fertilizing success was directly attributable to differences in sperm fertilizing competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renée C. Firman
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
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