Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that nongenetic paternal effects on offspring may be widespread among animal taxa, but the mechanisms underlying this form of nongenetic inheritance are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that seminal fluids underlie paternal effects on early offspring survival in an insect, the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, and quantify the contribution of this paternal effect to the inheritance of this important fitness trait. We used castrated males within a full-sib half-sib experimental design to show that seminal fluid donors were responsible for variation in the survival of developing embryos to hatching, and in their subsequent survival to adulthood. Increased expression of two seminal fluid protein genes, previously found to be positively associated with sperm quality, was found to be negatively associated with embryo survival. These nongenetic paternal effects hold important implications for the evolution of adaptive maternal responses to sperm competition, and more broadly for the interpretation of sire effects from classic quantitative genetic breeding designs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 403-411 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Evolution Letters |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2019 |
Cite this
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Nongenetic paternal effects via seminal fluid. / Simmons, Leigh W.; Lovegrove, Maxine.
In: Evolution Letters, Vol. 3, No. 4, 08.2019, p. 403-411.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Nongenetic paternal effects via seminal fluid
AU - Simmons, Leigh W.
AU - Lovegrove, Maxine
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Mounting evidence suggests that nongenetic paternal effects on offspring may be widespread among animal taxa, but the mechanisms underlying this form of nongenetic inheritance are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that seminal fluids underlie paternal effects on early offspring survival in an insect, the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, and quantify the contribution of this paternal effect to the inheritance of this important fitness trait. We used castrated males within a full-sib half-sib experimental design to show that seminal fluid donors were responsible for variation in the survival of developing embryos to hatching, and in their subsequent survival to adulthood. Increased expression of two seminal fluid protein genes, previously found to be positively associated with sperm quality, was found to be negatively associated with embryo survival. These nongenetic paternal effects hold important implications for the evolution of adaptive maternal responses to sperm competition, and more broadly for the interpretation of sire effects from classic quantitative genetic breeding designs.
AB - Mounting evidence suggests that nongenetic paternal effects on offspring may be widespread among animal taxa, but the mechanisms underlying this form of nongenetic inheritance are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that seminal fluids underlie paternal effects on early offspring survival in an insect, the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, and quantify the contribution of this paternal effect to the inheritance of this important fitness trait. We used castrated males within a full-sib half-sib experimental design to show that seminal fluid donors were responsible for variation in the survival of developing embryos to hatching, and in their subsequent survival to adulthood. Increased expression of two seminal fluid protein genes, previously found to be positively associated with sperm quality, was found to be negatively associated with embryo survival. These nongenetic paternal effects hold important implications for the evolution of adaptive maternal responses to sperm competition, and more broadly for the interpretation of sire effects from classic quantitative genetic breeding designs.
KW - Ejaculates
KW - embryo viability
KW - heritability
KW - sperm competition
KW - Teleogryllus oceanicus
KW - CRICKET TELEOGRYLLUS-OCEANICUS
KW - OFFSPRING PHENOTYPE
KW - FEMALE CRICKETS
KW - SPERM
KW - INHERITANCE
KW - EVOLUTION
KW - VIABILITY
KW - PROTEINS
KW - BENEFITS
KW - IDENTIFICATION
U2 - 10.1002/evl3.124
DO - 10.1002/evl3.124
M3 - Article
VL - 3
SP - 403
EP - 411
JO - Evolution Letters
JF - Evolution Letters
SN - 2056-3744
IS - 4
ER -