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Strategic adjustment of copulatory plug size in a nematode
Current Zoology ( IF 1.6 ) Pub Date : 2018-09-07 , DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy067
Jorge Canales-Lazcano 1 , Jorge Contreras-GarduÑo 2 , Carlos Cordero 3
Affiliation  

Abstract Copulatory plugs (CP) are substances produced during copulation that block the genital openings of the female. In several species of Nematoda, males produce CP that are thought to impede female remating and thus sperm competition. The relatively large size of the CP in several nematodes, and its evolutionary loss in self-fertilizing populations of Caenorhabditis elegans, suggests that CP are costly to produce. If CP production is costly, the application of basic concepts of strategic ejaculation theory suggests a modulated allocation of CP in response to sperm competition risk. This hypothesis led us to predict that males perceiving a higher risk of sperm competition will produce larger CP. We tested these ideas with the entomopathogenic, gonochoristic nematode Rhabditis regina. Our first experiment provides evidence suggesting that production of CP is costly, because the size of CP is negatively affected by stressful conditions (high population density, small male adult size, and suboptimal food type). The results of our second experiment support the prediction that males adjust the size of CP to sperm competition risk: the average size of CP increased as the number of males competing for one female increased. Overall, our study supports the idea that in R. regina the production of CP is costly for males and that the size of the CP produced is influenced by sperm competition risk.

中文翻译:

线虫交配栓大小的战略调整

摘要 交配栓 (CP) 是交配过程中产生的物质,可阻塞雌性生殖器的开口。在几种线虫中,雄性产生的 CP 被认为会阻碍雌性再交配,从而阻碍精子竞争。几种线虫中相对较大的 CP 及其在秀丽隐杆线虫自体受精种群中的进化损失,表明 CP 的生产成本很高。如果 CP 生产成本高昂,那么策略性射精理论的基本概念的应用表明 CP 的调节分配以应对精子竞争风险。这一假设使我们预测,认为精子竞争风险较高的男性会产生更大的 CP。我们用昆虫病原性淋病线虫 Rhabditis regina 测试了这些想法。我们的第一个实验提供的证据表明 CP 的生产成本高昂,因为 CP 的大小受到压力条件(人口密度高、成年雄性较小和食物类型不佳)的负面影响。我们的第二个实验的结果支持男性根据精子竞争风险调整 CP 大小的预测:CP 的平均大小随着竞争一名女性的男性数量增加而增加。总的来说,我们的研究支持这样的观点,即在里贾纳河中,雄性的 CP 生产成本高昂,并且所生产的 CP 的大小受精子竞争风险的影响。我们的第二个实验的结果支持男性根据精子竞争风险调整 CP 大小的预测:CP 的平均大小随着竞争一名女性的男性数量增加而增加。总体而言,我们的研究支持这样的观点,即在里贾纳河中,雄性的 CP 生产成本高昂,并且所生产的 CP 的大小受精子竞争风险的影响。我们的第二个实验的结果支持男性根据精子竞争风险调整 CP 大小的预测:CP 的平均大小随着竞争一名女性的男性数量增加而增加。总的来说,我们的研究支持这样的观点,即在里贾纳河中,雄性的 CP 生产成本高昂,并且所生产的 CP 的大小受精子竞争风险的影响。
更新日期:2018-09-07
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