In a large majority of animal species, the only contribution of males to the next generation has been assumed to be their genes (sperm). However, along with sperm, seminal plasma contains a wide array of extracellular factors that have many important functions in reproduction. Yet, the potential intergenerational effects of these factors are virtually unknown. We investigated these effects in European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) by experimentally manipulating the presence and identity of seminal plasma and by fertilizing the eggs of multiple females with the manipulated and unmanipulated semen of several males in a full‐factorial breeding design. The presence of both own seminal plasma and foreign seminal plasma inhibited sperm motility, and the removal of own seminal plasma decreased embryo survival. Embryos hatched significantly earlier after both semen manipulations than in control fertilizations; foreign seminal plasma also increased offspring aerobic swimming performance. Given that our experimental design allowed us to control potentially confounding sperm‐mediated (sire) effects and maternal effects, our results indicate that seminal plasma may have direct intergenerational consequences for offspring phenotype and performance. This novel source of offspring phenotypic variance may provide new insights into the evolution of polyandry and mechanisms that maintain heritable variation in fitness and associated female mating preferences.

中文翻译：

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后代表型由精液的非精子部分形成

在大多数动物物种中，雄性对下一代的唯一贡献被认为是它们的基因（精子）。然而，除了精子之外，精浆还包含多种细胞外因子，这些因子在生殖中具有许多重要功能。然而，这些因素的潜在代际影响实际上是未知的。我们通过实验操纵精浆的存在和特性，并通过在全因子育种设计中用操纵和未操纵的几只雄鱼的精液使多只雌鱼的卵受精，研究了欧洲白鱼（Coregonus lavaretus）的这些影响。自身精浆和外源精浆的存在都会抑制精子活力，去除自身精浆会降低胚胎存活率。与对照受精相比，两种精液操作后的胚胎孵化时间明显更早；国外精浆也提高了后代的有氧游泳成绩。鉴于我们的实验设计使我们能够控制潜在的混杂精子介导的（父系）效应和母体效应，我们的结果表明精浆可能对后代的表型和表现产生直接的代际影响。这种后代表型变异的新来源可能为一妻多夫的进化以及维持健康和相关女性交配偏好的遗传变异的机制提供新的见解。鉴于我们的实验设计使我们能够控制潜在的混杂精子介导的（父系）效应和母体效应，我们的结果表明精浆可能对后代的表型和表现产生直接的代际影响。这种后代表型变异的新来源可能为一妻多夫的进化以及维持健康和相关女性交配偏好的遗传变异的机制提供新的见解。鉴于我们的实验设计使我们能够控制潜在的混杂精子介导的（父系）效应和母体效应，我们的结果表明精浆可能对后代的表型和表现产生直接的代际影响。这种后代表型变异的新来源可能为一妻多夫的进化以及维持健康和相关女性交配偏好的遗传变异的机制提供新的见解。