Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.

When ejaculates from rival males compete for fertilization, there is strong selection for sperm traits that enhance fertilization success. Sperm quantity is one such trait, and numerous studies have demonstrated a positive association between sperm competition and both testes size and the number of...

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Autores principales:	Melissah Rowe, Stephen Pruett-Jones
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2b5c7d07cc1b42c587c18ae81412afc4
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2b5c7d07cc1b42c587c18ae81412afc42021-11-18T06:59:56ZSperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0015720https://doaj.org/article/2b5c7d07cc1b42c587c18ae81412afc42011-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21283577/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203When ejaculates from rival males compete for fertilization, there is strong selection for sperm traits that enhance fertilization success. Sperm quantity is one such trait, and numerous studies have demonstrated a positive association between sperm competition and both testes size and the number of sperm available for copulations. Sperm competition is also thought to favor increases in sperm quality and changes in testicular morphology that lead to increased sperm production. However, in contrast to sperm quantity, these hypotheses have received considerably less empirical support and remain somewhat controversial. In a comparative study using the Australian Maluridae (fairy-wrens, emu-wrens, grasswrens), we tested whether increasing levels of sperm competition were associated with increases in both sperm quantity and quality, as well as an increase in the relative amount of seminiferous tubule tissue contained within the testes. After controlling for phylogeny, we found positive associations between sperm competition and sperm numbers, both in sperm reserves and in ejaculate samples. Additionally, as sperm competition level increased, the proportion of testicular spermatogenic tissue also increased, suggesting that sperm competition selects for greater sperm production per unit of testicular tissue. Finally, we also found that sperm competition level was positively associated with multiple sperm quality traits, including the proportion of motile sperm in ejaculates and the proportion of both viable and morphologically normal sperm in sperm reserves. These results suggest multiple ejaculate traits, as well as aspects of testicular morphology, have evolved in response to sperm competition in the Australian Maluridae. Furthermore, our findings emphasize the importance of post-copulatory sexual selection as an evolutionary force shaping macroevolutionary differences in sperm phenotype.Melissah RoweStephen Pruett-JonesPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 1, p e15720 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Melissah Rowe Stephen Pruett-Jones Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
description	When ejaculates from rival males compete for fertilization, there is strong selection for sperm traits that enhance fertilization success. Sperm quantity is one such trait, and numerous studies have demonstrated a positive association between sperm competition and both testes size and the number of sperm available for copulations. Sperm competition is also thought to favor increases in sperm quality and changes in testicular morphology that lead to increased sperm production. However, in contrast to sperm quantity, these hypotheses have received considerably less empirical support and remain somewhat controversial. In a comparative study using the Australian Maluridae (fairy-wrens, emu-wrens, grasswrens), we tested whether increasing levels of sperm competition were associated with increases in both sperm quantity and quality, as well as an increase in the relative amount of seminiferous tubule tissue contained within the testes. After controlling for phylogeny, we found positive associations between sperm competition and sperm numbers, both in sperm reserves and in ejaculate samples. Additionally, as sperm competition level increased, the proportion of testicular spermatogenic tissue also increased, suggesting that sperm competition selects for greater sperm production per unit of testicular tissue. Finally, we also found that sperm competition level was positively associated with multiple sperm quality traits, including the proportion of motile sperm in ejaculates and the proportion of both viable and morphologically normal sperm in sperm reserves. These results suggest multiple ejaculate traits, as well as aspects of testicular morphology, have evolved in response to sperm competition in the Australian Maluridae. Furthermore, our findings emphasize the importance of post-copulatory sexual selection as an evolutionary force shaping macroevolutionary differences in sperm phenotype.
format	article
author	Melissah Rowe Stephen Pruett-Jones
author_facet	Melissah Rowe Stephen Pruett-Jones
author_sort	Melissah Rowe
title	Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
title_short	Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
title_full	Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
title_fullStr	Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
title_full_unstemmed	Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.
title_sort	sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the australian maluridae.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/2b5c7d07cc1b42c587c18ae81412afc4
work_keys_str_mv	AT melissahrowe spermcompetitionselectsforspermquantityandqualityintheaustralianmaluridae AT stephenpruettjones spermcompetitionselectsforspermquantityandqualityintheaustralianmaluridae
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Sperm competition selects for sperm quantity and quality in the Australian Maluridae.

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