Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
12
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
12 results for “Female reproductive fluid”
Paternal environment effects are driven by female reproductive fluid but not sperm age in an external fertiliser
<p>Sperm ageing after ejaculation can generate paternal environmental effects that impact offspring fitness. In many species, female reproductive fluids (FRFs), i.e. ancillary fluids released by eggs or within the female reproductive tract, may protect sperm from ageing and can additionally interact with sperm to influence offspring viability. This raises the intriguing prospect that FRFs may alleviate paternal effects associated with sperm ageing. Here, we test this novel hypothesis using the broadcast spawning mussel, <em>Mytilus galloprovincialis.</em> We show that incubating sperm in FRF prior to fertilisation increases offspring viability and that these effects occur independently of sperm age. Our results provide novel evidence that FRFs allow females to selectively bias fertilisation toward higher quality sperm within an ejaculate, which in turn yields more viable offspring. We consider this FRF-mediated paternal effect in the context of female physiological control over fertilisation and the transgenerational effects of female-regulated haploid selection.</p>
Female reproductive fluid increases the opportunities for post-mating sexual selection by prolonging egg fertilization window
<p>Female reproductive fluid, the fluid that surrounds the eggs, has attracted increasing attention for its role in fertilization and post-mating sexual selection through its effects on sperm traits. Surprisingly, however, only a few studies have investigated the effects of female reproductive fluid on the eggs. Yet, these effects might offer great potential to affect fertilization dynamics by, for example, increasing the opportunities for post-mating sexual selection. Here, we determined whether, by extending the egg fertilization window (time available for egg fertilization), the female reproductive fluid could also increase the opportunities for multiple paternity. Using the Zebrafish Danio rerio we first tested the prediction that female reproductive fluid increases the egg fertilization window, and then, using a split-brood design with sperm of two males added at different times after eggs activation, we tested whether the degree of multiple paternity varies in presence or absence of female reproductive fluid. Our results reveal the potential of the female reproductive fluid to increase multiple paternity throughout its effects on the egg fertilization window thus broadening our knowledge of the mechanisms females in externally fertilizing species affect post-mating sexual selection.</p>
Female reproductive fluids 'rescue' sperm from phenotypic ageing in an external fertilizer
<p class="MsoNormal">Female reproductive fluids (FRF) serve key reproductive functions in sexually reproducing animals, including modifying the way sperm swim and detect eggs, and influencing sperm lifespan. Despite the central role of FRF during fertilisation, we know surprisingly little about sperm-FRF interactions under different environmental conditions. Theory suggests that, in external fertilisers, FRF may 'rescue' sperm from ageing effects as they search to fertilise eggs. Here, we test the interaction between these two fundamental properties of the fertilisation environment, ejaculate age (i.e., time since ejaculation) and FRF, on a range of functional sperm phenotypes in a broadcast spawning mussel, <em>Mytilus galloprovincialis</em>. We found that the effects of ejaculate age on multivariate sperm motility traits and total sperm motility were altered by FRF, and that longer-lived sperm exhibit stronger, likely more advantageous, responses to FRF after periods of ageing. We also detected significant among-male variation in the relationship between sperm motility traits and ejaculate age; notably, these patterns were only revealed when sperm encountered FRF. Collectively these findings underscore the importance of considering female reproductive physiology when interpreting ageing-related declines in sperm motility, as doing so may expose important sources of variation in sperm phenotypic plasticity among males and environments.</p>
Dataset for: Female reproductive fluids attracts more and better sperm in zebrafish
<p class="MsoNormal">Mounting evidence shows that the female reproductive fluid (FRF) can differently affect sperm performance of different males by biasing paternity share among competing males. Here, we tested for the first time the potential of 'within-ejaculate cryptic female choice' mediated by the FRF in the zebrafish (<em>Danio rerio</em>). Using a recently developed sperm selection chamber, we separated and collected FRF-selected from non-selected sperm to compare the two subpopulations of sperm in terms of sperm number, viability, DNA integrity and fertilizing ability. We showed that the sperm attracted by FRF are more numerous, more viable and with higher DNA integrity. In addition, FRF-selected sperm fertilized more eggs, but if this is due to fertilization ability <em>per se</em> or numerical advantage is unknown. Our results suggest that the FRF can select sperm with a better phenotype, highlighting the crucial and impactful role that the FRF has in the process of fertilization and post-mating sexual selection dynamics and the potential implications for sperm selection in assisted reproductive techniques.</p>
Female reproductive fluid increases the opportunities for post-mating sexual selection by prolonging egg fertilization window
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Dataset for: Female reproductive fluids attracts more and better sperm in zebrafish
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Paternal environment effects are driven by female reproductive fluid but not sperm age in an external fertiliser
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Female reproductive fluids ‘rescue’ sperm from phenotypic ageing in an external fertilizer
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Female reproductive fluid and male seminal fluid: A non-gametic conflict for post-mating control
<p>Growing evidence shows that non-gametic components released by both males and females can significantly drive sperm competition outcomes. Seminal fluid (SF) was shown to influence paternity success by affecting rival males' sperm performance, and, in some species with male alternative reproductive tactics, to selectively decrease the fertilization success of males of the opposite tactic. Female reproductive fluid (FRF) has been proven to differentially influence ejaculates of different males and bias fertilization towards specific partners. Whether, and with what outcome, these two processes can intersect to influence sperm competition is still unknown. Here we explore this scenario in the grass goby (<em>Zosterisessor ophiocephalus</em>), a fish with territorial-sneaker reproductive tactics, where sneaker males can exploit the territorials' SF while penalizing territorial sperm performance with their own fluid. To test whether FRF can rebalance the ejaculate competition in favour of territorial males, we used in vitro fertilization with a SF mixture (territorial + sneaker), using increasing concentrations of FRF, to simulate the natural conditions that ejaculates encounter towards the eggs. Our findings revealed a differential effect of FRF on the different tactics' fertilization success, favouring territorial ejaculates, possibly through an attenuation of the detrimental effects of sneaker SF, and enabling females to regain control over the fertilization process.</p>
Female reproductive fluid and male seminal fluid: A non-gametic conflict for post-mating control
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Male seminal fluid substances affect sperm competition success and female reproductive behavior in a seed beetle
Male seminal fluid proteins are known to affect female reproductive behavior and physiology by reducing mating receptivity and by increasing egg production rates. Such substances are also though to increase the competitive fertilization success of males, but the empirical foundation for this tenet is restricted. Here, we examined the effects of injections of size-fractioned protein extracts from male reproductive organs on both male competitive fertilization success (i.e., P2 in double mating experiments) and female reproduction in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. We found that extracts of male seminal vesicles and ejaculatory ducts increased competitive fertilization success when males mated with females 1 day after the females' initial mating, while extracts from accessory glands and testes increased competitive fertilization success when males mated with females 2 days after the females' initial mating. Moreover, different size fractions of seminal fluid proteins had distinct and partly antagonistic effects on male competitive fertilization success. Collectively, our experiments show that several different seminal fluid proteins, deriving from different parts in the male reproductive tract and of different molecular weight, affect male competitive fertilization success in C. maculatus. Our results highlight the diverse effects of seminal fluid proteins and show that the function of such proteins can be contingent upon female mating status. We also document effects of different size fractions on female mating receptivity and egg laying rates, which can serve as a basis for future efforts to identify the molecular identity of seminal fluid proteins and their function in this model species.
Data from: Male seminal fluid substances affect sperm competition success and female reproductive behavior in a seed beetle
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.