Female mediation of competitive fertilization success in Drosophila melanogaster
Male
Cryptic Female Choice
cryptic female choice
sperm ejection
heritability
Models, Biological
Heritability
Animals, Genetically Modified
10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
03 medical and health sciences
5. Gender equality
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
Animals
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
1000 Multidisciplinary
0303 health sciences
Postcopulatory Sexual Selection
Genetic Variation
Genitalia, Female
Sperm Ejection
Mating Preference, Animal
Biological Evolution
Drosophila melanogaster
Fertilization
Linear Models
570 Life sciences; biology
590 Animals (Zoology)
Female
female mediation
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.1300954110
Publication Date:
2013-06-12T01:14:26Z
AUTHORS (6)
ABSTRACT
How females store and use sperm after remating can generate postcopulatory sexual selection on male ejaculate traits. Variation in ejaculate performance traits generally is thought to be intrinsic to males but is likely to interact with the environment in which sperm compete (e.g., the female reproductive tract). Our understanding of female contributions to competitive fertilization success is limited, however, in part because of the challenges involved in observing events within the reproductive tract of internally fertilizing species while discriminating among sperm from competing males. Here, we used females from crosses among isogenic lines of
Drosophila melanogaster
, each mated to two genetically standardized males (the first with green- and the second with red-tagged sperm heads) to demonstrate heritable variation in female remating interval, progeny production rate, sperm-storage organ morphology, and a number of sperm performance, storage, and handling traits. We then used multivariate analyses to examine relationships between this female-mediated variation and competitive paternity. In particular, the timing of female ejection of excess second-male and displaced first-male sperm was genetically variable and, by terminating the process of sperm displacement, significantly influenced the relative numbers of sperm from each male competing for fertilization, and consequently biased paternity. Our results demonstrate that females do not simply provide a static arena for sperm competition but rather play an active and pivotal role in postcopulatory processes. Resolving the adaptive significance of genetic variation in female-mediated mechanisms of sperm handling is critical for understanding sexual selection, sexual conflict, and the coevolution of male and female reproductive traits.
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CITATIONS (115)
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