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opencc-zeroOct 2021View details →

Data from: Female-limited X-chromosome evolution effects on male pre- and post-copulatory success

In our article, entitled "Female-limited X-chromosome evolution effects on male pre- and post-copulatory success", we carried out a female-limited X chromosome evolution experiment to study the effect of X-linked sexually antagonistic genetic variance on male reproductive traits. By limiting expression of the X chromosome to females for multiple generations, we removed male selective constraints, which should allow X-linked female-beneficial alleles to increase in frequency. As a result, expressing the experimentally evolved X chromosome in males, we found a small reduction in male fitness caused by the trade-off between male attractiveness and sperm competitiveness. These results indicate that the X chromosome in D. melanogaster harbors sexually antagonistic genetic variance for pre- and post- copulatory success in males.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

Pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection increase offspring quality but impose survival costs to female field crickets

Whether sexual selection increases or decreases fitness is under ongoing debate. Sexual selection operates before and after mating. Yet, the effects of each episode of selection on individual reproductive success remain largely unexplored. We ask how disentangled pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection contribute to fitness of field crickets Gryllus bimaculatus. Treatments allowed exclusively for i) pre-copulatory selection, with males fighting and courting one female, and the resulting pair breeding monogamously, ii) post-copulatory selection, with females mating consecutively to multiple males, and iii) relaxed selection, with enforced pair monogamy. While standardizing the number of matings, we estimated a number of fitness traits across treatments and show that females experiencing sexual selection were more likely to reproduce, their offspring hatched sooner, developed faster and had higher body mass at adulthood, but females suffered survival costs. Interestingly, we found no differences in fitness of females or their offspring from pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection treatments. Our findings highlight the potential for sexual selection in enhancing indirect female fitness while concurrently imposing direct survival costs. By potentially outweighing these costs, increased offspring quality could lead to beneficial population-level consequences of sexual selection.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Thermal phenotypic plasticity of pre- and post-copulatory male harm buffers sexual conflict in wild Drosophila melanogaster

<div> Strong sexual selection frequently leads to sexual conflict and ensuing male harm, whereby males increase their reproductive success at the expense of harming females. Male harm is a widespread evolutionary phenomenon with a strong bearing on population viability. Thus, understanding how it unfolds in the wild is a current priority. Here, we sampled a wild Drosophila melanogaster population and studied male harm across the normal range of temperatures under which it reproduces optimally in nature by comparing female lifetime reproductive success and underlying male harm mechanisms under monogamy (i.e., low male competition/harm) vs. polyandry (i.e., high male competition/harm). While females had equal lifetime reproductive success across temperatures under monogamy, polyandry resulted in a maximum decrease of female fitness at 24°C (35%), reducing its impact at both 20°C (22%), and 28°C (10%). Furthermore, female fitness components and pre- (i.e., harassment) and post-copulatory (i.e., ejaculate toxicity) mechanisms of male harm were asymmetrically affected by temperature. At 20ºC, male harassment of females was reduced, and polyandry accelerated female actuarial ageing. In contrast, the effect of mating on female receptivity (a component of ejaculate toxicity) was only modulated at 28ºC, where the mating costs for females decreased and polyandry mostly resulted in accelerated reproductive ageing. We thus show that, across a natural thermal range, sexual conflict processes and their effects on female fitness components are plastic and complex. As a result, the net effect of male harm on overall population viability is likely to be lower than previously surmised. We discuss how such plasticity may affect selection, adaptation and, ultimately, evolutionary rescue under a warming climate. </div>

publicAug 2024View details →

Data from: pre-copulatory choices drive post-copulatory decisions: mechanisms of female control shift across different life stages

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publicOct 2021View details →

Data from: Female-limited X-chromosome evolution effects on male pre- and post-copulatory success

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publicApr 2023View details →

Thermal phenotypic plasticity of pre- and post-copulatory male harm buffers sexual conflict in wild Drosophila melanogaster

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publicNov 2022View details →

Pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection increase offspring quality but impose survival costs to female field crickets

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opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Data from: The repeatable opportunity for selection differs between pre- and post-copulatory fitness components

In species with multiple mating, intense sexual selection may occur both before and after copulation. However, comparing the strength of pre- and postcopulatory selection is challenging, because i) postcopulatory processes are generally difficult to observe and ii) the often-used opportunity for selection (I) metric contains both deterministic and stochastic components. Here, we quantified pre- and postcopulatory male fitness components of the simultaneously hermaphroditic flatworm, Macrostomum lignano. We did this by tracking fluorescent sperm—using transgenics—through the transparent body of sperm recipients, enabling to observe postcopulatory processes in vivo. Moreover, we sequentially exposed focal worms to three independent mating groups, and in each assessed their mating success, sperm-transfer efficiency, sperm fertilising efficiency, and partner fecundity. Based on these multiple measures, we could, for each fitness component, combine the variance (I) with the repeatability (R) in individual success to assess the amount of repeatable variance in individual success—a measure we call the repeatable opportunity for selection (IR). We found higher repeatable opportunity for selection in sperm-transfer efficiency and sperm fertilising efficiency compared to mating success, which clearly suggests that postcopulatory selection is stronger than precopulatory selection. Our study demonstrates that the opportunity for selection contains a repeatable deterministic component, which can be assessed and disentangled from the often large stochastic component, to provide a better estimate of the strength of selection.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

Data from: Humidity stress and its consequences for male pre- and post-copulatory fitness traits in an insect

Global declines in insect abundance are of significant concern. While there is evidence that climate change is contributing to insect declines, we know little of the direct mechanisms responsible for these declines. Male fertility is compromised by increasing temperatures, and the thermal limit to fertility has been implicated as an important factor in the response of insects to climate change. However, climate change is affecting both temperature and hydric conditions, and the effects of water availability on male fertility have rarely been considered. Here we exposed male crickets Teleogryllus oceanicus to either low- or high-humidity environments while holding temperature constant. We measured water loss and the expression of both pre- and post-mating reproductive traits. Males exposed to a low-humidity environment lost more water than males exposed to a high-humidity environment. A male's cuticular hydrocarbon profile (CHC) did not affect the amount of water lost, and males did not adjust the composition of their CHC profiles in response to hydric conditions. Males exposed to a low-humidity environment were less likely to produce courtship song or produced songs of low quality. Their spermatophores failed to evacuate and their ejaculates contained sperm of reduced viability. The detrimental effects of low humidity on male reproductive traits will compromise male fertility and population persistence. We argue that limits to insect fertility based on temperature alone are likely to underestimate the true effects of climate change on insect persistence, and that the explicit incorporation of water regulation into our modelling will yield more accurate predictions of the effects of climate change on insect declines.

publicJun 2023View details →

Data from: Humidity stress and its consequences for male pre- and post-copulatory fitness traits in an insect

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publicNov 2020View details →

Data from: The repeatable opportunity for selection differs between pre- and post-copulatory fitness components

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opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Testing a post-copulatory pre-zygotic reproductive barrier in a passerine species pair

Sexual selection may drive speciation, but most research focuses on pre-copulatory sexual selection, overlooking post-copulatory processes. Post-copulatory sexual selection in allopatric populations could drive divergence in post-copulatory pre-zygotic (PCPZ) phenotypes, limiting gene flow upon secondary contact. Here, we performed in vitro experiments examining one potential PCPZ barrier between two closely related passerine species, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis). In birds, crossing in the vagina may be particularly challenging for sperm, so we tested the effect of female reproductive tract fluids on sperm swimming speed and motility. If a PCPZ barrier exists at this stage of the fertilization process, heterospecific female fluids are predicted to reduce sperm swimming speed or motility relative to conspecific female fluid. We found that house sparrow female fluids affected the two species' sperm asymmetrically, depending on the control sperm velocity and male species. Overall, however, sperm performed equally in conspecific and heterospecific female fluids, and the species had similar sperm morphology and sperm swimming performance. Low divergence in PCPZ phenotypes between species, perhaps because post-copulatory sexual selection is stabilizing or only moderately strong in these taxa, may be insufficient to cause an overall PCPZ barrier. Reinforcement may be unlikely to drive PCPZ barriers for this species pair, because relatively effective pre-copulatory barriers exist between the species, and because hybrids can be quite successful. Testing the role of PCPZ barriers in birds with more divergent PCPZ phenotypes will improve our understanding of speciation in passerines.

publicMar 2018View details →

Data from: Positive correlations between pre- and post-copulatory sexual traits in warblers

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publicOct 2014View details →

Data from: Contrasting responses of pre- and post-copulatory traits to variation in mating competition

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publicAug 2017View details →

Data from: Testing a post-copulatory pre-zygotic reproductive barrier in a passerine species pair

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opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Winners have higher pre-copulatory mating success but losers have better post-copulatory outcomes

In many animals, the outcomes of competitive interactions can have lasting effects that influence an individual's reproductive success and have important consequences for the strength and direction of evolution via sexual selection. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, males that have won previous contests are more likely to win in subsequent conflicts and losers are more likely to lose (winner-loser effects), but the direct fitness consequences and genetic underpinnings of this plasticity are poorly understood. Here, we tested how male genotype and the outcomes of previous male-male conflicts influence male pre- and post-copulatory success. We quantified pre-copulatory success in a choice and no-choice context, and post-copulatory success by quantifying ejaculate offensive and defensive ability. We found that winners have higher reproductive success compared to losers in both pre-copulatory scenarios. However, losers consistently mated for a longer duration, boosted female fecundity, and had an increased paternity share when they were the first males to mate, suggesting increased investment into post-copulatory mechanisms. Finally, by using clonal hybrids from the Drosophila genetic reference panel, we quantified the proportion of phenotypic variance in the plasticity between winners and losers that was due to genetic differences. Our results place the behavioural data on winner-loser effects in an evolutionary context by documenting the potential fitness gain to males from altering their reproductive strategy based on fighting experience. Our data may also explain the presence and maintenance of trade-offs between different male reproductive strategies.

opencc-zeroDec 2011View details →

Data from: Differential investment in pre- versus post-copulatory sexual selection reinforces a cross-continental reversal of sexual size dimorphism in Sepsis punctum (Diptera: Sepsidae)

Theory predicts that males have a limited amount of resources to invest in reproduction, suggesting a trade-off between traits that enhance mate acquisition and those enhancing fertilization success. Here we investigate the relationship between pre- and post-copulatory investment by comparing the mating behavior and reproductive morphology of four European and five North American populations of the dung fly Sepsis punctum (Diptera) that display a reversal of sexual size dimorphism (SSD). We show that the geographic reversal in SSD between the continents (male-biased in Europe, female-biased in North America) is accompanied by differential investment in pre- versus post-copulatory traits. We find higher re-mating rates in European populations, where larger males acquire more matings and consequently have evolved relatively larger testes and steeper hyper-allometry with body size. American populations, in sharp contrast, display much reduced, if any, effect of body size on those traits. Instead, North American males demonstrate an increased investment in mate acquisition prior to copulation, with more mounting attempts and a distinctive abdominal courtship display that is completely absent in Europe. When controlling for body size, relative female spermathecal size is similar on both continents, so we find no direct evidence for the co-evolution of male and female internal reproductive morphology. By comparing allopatric populations of the same species that apparently have evolved different mating systems and consequently SSD, we thus indirectly demonstrate differential investment in pre- vs. post-copulatory mechanisms increasing reproductive success.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Evolution of pre-copulatory and post-copulatory strategies of inbreeding avoidance and associated polyandry

Inbreeding depression is widely hypothesised to drive adaptive evolution of pre-copulatory and post-copulatory mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance, which in turn are hypothesised to affect evolution of polyandry (i.e., female multiple mating). However, surprisingly little theory or modelling critically examines selection for pre-copulatory or post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance, or both strategies, given evolutionary constraints and direct costs, or examines how evolution of inbreeding avoidance strategies might feed back to affect evolution of polyandry. Selection for post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance, but not for pre-copulatory inbreeding avoidance, requires polyandry, while interactions between pre-copulatory and post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance might cause functional redundancy (i.e., 'degeneracy') potentially generating complex evolutionary dynamics among inbreeding strategies and polyandry. We used individual-based modelling to quantify evolution of interacting pre-copulatory and post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance and associated polyandry given strong inbreeding depression and different evolutionary constraints and direct costs. We found that evolution of post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance increased selection for initially rare polyandry, and that evolution of a costly inbreeding avoidance strategy became negligible over time given a lower cost alternative strategy. Further, fixed pre-copulatory inbreeding avoidance often completely precluded evolution of polyandry and hence post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance, but fixed post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance did not preclude evolution of pre-copulatory inbreeding avoidance. Evolution of inbreeding avoidance phenotypes and associated polyandry are therefore affected by evolutionary feedbacks and degeneracy. All else being equal, evolution of pre-copulatory inbreeding avoidance and resulting low polyandry is more likely when post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance is precluded or costly, and evolution of post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance greatly facilitates evolution of costly polyandry.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Evolution of pre- and post-copulatory traits in male Drosophila melanogaster as a correlated response to selection for resistance to cold stress

Background: In Drosophila melanogaster the fitness of males depends on a broad array of reproductive traits classified as pre- and post-copulatory traits. Exposure to cold stress, can reduce sperm number, male mating ability and courtship behavior. Therefore, it is expected that the adaptation to cold stress will involve changes in pre- and post-copulatory traits. Such evolution of reproductive traits in response to cold stress is not well studied. Methods: We selected replicate populations of D. melanogaster for resistance to cold shock. Over 37–46 generations of selection, we investigated pre- and post-copulatory traits such as mating latency, copulation duration, mating frequency, male fertility, fitness (progeny production) and sperm competitive ability in male flies subjected to cold shock and those not subjected to cold shock. Results: We found that post cold shock, the males from the selected populations had a significantly lower mating latency along with, higher mating frequency, fertility, sperm competitive ability and number of progeny relative to the control populations. Conclusion: While most studies of experimental evolution of cold stress resistance have documented the evolution of survivorship in response to selection, our study clearly shows that adaptation to cold stress involves rapid changes in the pre- and post-copulatory traits. Additionally, improved performances under stressful conditions need not necessarily trade-off with performance under benign conditions.