Sperm competition risk drives plasticity in seminal fluid composition

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• 作者：Steven A. Ramm ; Dominic A. Edward ; Amy J. Claydon ; Dean E. Hammond…
• 关键词：Evolution ; Phenotypic plasticity ; Proteomics ; Random Forest analysis ; Seminal fluid ; Sperm competition
• 刊名：BMC Biology
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：December 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：13
• 期：1
• 全文大小：1,682 KB
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences, general;
• 出版者：BioMed Central
• ISSN：1741-7007

文摘

Background Ejaculates contain a diverse mixture of sperm and seminal fluid proteins, the combination of which is crucial to male reproductive success under competitive conditions. Males should therefore tailor the production of different ejaculate components according to their social environment, with particular sensitivity to cues of sperm competition risk (i.e. how likely it is that females will mate promiscuously). Here we test this hypothesis using an established vertebrate model system, the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus), combining experimental data with a quantitative proteomics analysis of seminal fluid composition. Our study tests for the first time how both sperm and seminal fluid components of the ejaculate are tailored to the social environment.