For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
32
views
90
references
 Top references
cited by
6
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      162
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Variability in sperm form and function in the context of sperm competition risk in two Tupinambis lizards

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          In polyandrous species, sperm morphometry and sperm velocity are under strong sexual selection. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the role of sperm competition in sperm trait variation, this aspect is still poorly understood. It has been suggested that an increase in sperm competition pressure could reduce sperm size variation or produce a diversity of sperm to maximize male fertilization success. We aim at elucidating the variability of sperm morphometric traits and velocity in two Tupinambis lizards in the context of sperm competition risk. Sperm traits showed substantial variation at all levels examined: between species, among males within species, and within the ejaculate of individual males. Sperm velocity was found to be positively correlated with flagellum: midpiece ratio, with relatively longer flagella associated with faster sperm. Our results document high variability in sperm form and function in lizards.

          Related collections

          Most cited references90

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          SPERM COMPETITION AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY CONSEQUENCES IN THE INSECTS

          G. A. Parker (1970)
          Biological Reviews, 45(4), 525-567
          Article 0 comments Cited 752 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Sperm in competition: not playing by the numbers.

            Rhonda Snook (2005)
            The outcome of sperm competition is mediated largely by the relative numbers of sperm from competing males. However, substantial variation in features of sperm morphology and behaviour, such as length, longevity and motility, exists and researchers have suggested that this variation functions in postcopulatory sexual selection. Recent studies have determined the effect of these sperm-quality traits on fertilization success and a synthesis of this literature reveals that they are important in both sperm competition and cryptic female choice. To understand how postcopulatory sexual selection influences sperm traits, future research should determine sex-specific interactions that influence paternity, identify genetic correlations between ejaculate characters, quantify the relative costs of producing different sperm traits, and test assumptions of models of sperm quality evolution. Such research will shed light on what evolutionary pressures are responsible for the diversity in sperm morphometry and behaviour.
            Article 0 comments Cited 183 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Sperm wars and the evolution of male fertility.

              A L Fitzpatrick, Christopher Simmons (2012)
              Females frequently mate with several males, whose sperm then compete to fertilize available ova. Sperm competition represents a potent selective force that is expected to shape male expenditure on the ejaculate. Here, we review empirical data that illustrate the evolutionary consequences of sperm competition. Sperm competition favors the evolution of increased testes size and sperm production. In some species, males appear capable of adjusting the number of sperm ejaculated, depending on the perceived levels of sperm competition. Selection is also expected to act on sperm form and function, although the evidence for this remains equivocal. Comparative studies suggest that sperm length and swimming speed may increase in response to selection from sperm competition. However, the mechanisms driving this pattern remain unclear. Evidence that sperm length influences sperm swimming speed is mixed and fertilization trials performed across a broad range of species demonstrate inconsistent relationships between sperm form and function. This ambiguity may in part reflect the important role that seminal fluid proteins (sfps) play in affecting sperm function. There is good evidence that sfps are subject to selection from sperm competition, and recent work is pointing to an ability of males to adjust their seminal fluid chemistry in response to sperm competition from rival males. We argue that future research must consider sperm and seminal fluid components of the ejaculate as a functional unity. Research at the genomic level will identify the genes that ultimately control male fertility.
              Article 0 comments Cited 123 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Ecol Evol
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Ecol Evol
                Journal ID (publisher-id): ece3
                Title: Ecology and Evolution
                Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (Oxford, UK )
                ISSN (Print): 2045-7758
                ISSN (Electronic): 2045-7758
                Publication date (Print): November 2014
                Publication date (Electronic): 07 October 2014
                Volume: 4
                Issue: 21
                Pages: 4080-4092
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA) CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000JJC, Córdoba, Argentina
                [2 ]Centro de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIByT) CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Av.Velez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA, Córdoba, Argentina
                Author notes
                Cecilia S. Blengini, Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA) CONICET and Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, Córdoba, CP: X5000JJC, Argentina. Tel: +54 9 351 3644819; E-mail: ceciliablengini@ 123456gmail.com

                Funding Information The study was funded by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (FONCyT), MinCyT Córdoba -Préstamo BID-PID No. 013/2009, Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología (SeCyT), and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.

                Article
                DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1262
                PMC ID: 4242561
                PubMed ID: 25505535
                SO-VID: a53c916d-82c6-4244-b4b0-ccc70cc21336
                Copyright © © 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
                License:

                This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 04 July 2014
                Date revision received : 06 September 2014
                Date accepted : 09 September 2014
                Categories
                Subject: Original Research

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Evolutionary Biology
                Keywords: postcopulatory sexual selection,sperm evolution,sperm morphometry,sperm velocity,squamata
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Evolutionary Biology
                Keywords: postcopulatory sexual selection, sperm evolution, sperm morphometry, sperm velocity, squamata

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content162

                See all similar

                Cited by6

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors277

                See all reference authors