A "Good-Sperm" Model Can Explain the Evolution of Costly Multiple Mating by Females

Yasui, Yukio

doi:10.1086/286006

Cited by 251 publications

(261 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The increased fitness of males from lineages evolving with sperm competition may be explained by a genetic benefit associated with polyandry. A long evolutionary history of multiple mating in the polygamous lines may have allowed for the selection of good genes, such that those males that were successful in sperm competition had an intrinsic quality that resulted in offspring of greater fitness [17]. Across the first 10 generations of selection it was shown that litters born to females of the polygamous lines steadily increased while the litters born to monogamous line females remained comparable to the source population [28].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyandrous females benefit by producing sons that achieve high reproductive success in a competitive environment

Firman

2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Females of many taxa often copulate with multiple males and incite sperm competition. On the premise that males of high genetic quality are more successful in sperm competition, it has been suggested that females may benefit from polyandry by accruing 'good genes' for their offspring. Laboratory studies have shown that multiple mating can increase female fitness through enhanced embryo viability, and have exposed how polyandry influences the evolution of the ejaculate. However, such studies often do not allow for both female mate choice and male -male competition to operate simultaneously. Here, I took house mice (Mus domesticus) from selection lines that had been evolving with (polygamous) and without (monogamous) sperm competition for 16 generations and, by placing them in free-ranging enclosures for 11 weeks, forced them to compete for access to resources and mates. Parentage analyses revealed that female reproductive success was not influenced by selection history, but there was a significant paternity bias towards males from the polygamous selection lines. Therefore, I show that female house mice benefit from polyandry by producing sons that achieve increased fitness in a semi-natural environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyandrous females benefit by producing sons that achieve high reproductive success in a competitive environment

Firman

2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…One of these, the good sperm hypothesis (Harvey & May 1989;Birkhead et al 1993;Yasui 1997), suggests that a male's success in sperm competition correlates with other aspects of his genetic quality. Therefore, males that are more successful during sperm competition are of higher quality, and hence sire high-quality offspring (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superior sperm competitors sire higher–quality young

Hosken

Garner

Tregenza

et al. 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

120

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The evolution of polyandry remains controversial. This is because, unlike males, in many cases multiple mating by females does not increase fecundity and inevitably involves some costs. As a result, a large number of indirect benefit models have been proposed to explain polyandry. One of these, the good sperm hypothesis, posits that high-quality males are better sperm competitors and sire higher-quality offspring. Hence, by mating multiply, females produce offspring of superior quality. Despite being potentially widely applicable across species, this idea has received little attention. In a laboratory experiment with yellow dung flies (Scathophaga stercoraria) we found that males that were more successful in sperm competition also had offspring that developed faster. There was no relationship between paternal success in sperm competition and the ability of offspring to survive post-emergence starvation. Since faster development times are likely to be advantageous in this species, our data provide some support for polyandry evolving as a means of producing higher-quality offspring via sperm competition.

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“…Because polyandry extends the scope for sexual selection (see reviews in Eberhard 1996;Birkhead & Møller 1998), indirect genetic benefits can also be expected to play a role. The progeny of polyandrous females may inherit their fathers' high sperm competitiveness (Keller & Reeve 1995;Bernasconi & Keller 2001) or other beneficial traits that are correlated with sperm competitiveness (Yasui 1997;Watson 1998;Evans & Magurran 2000;Konior et al 2001) and polyandry may facilitate cryptic female choice (Eberhard 1996;Ward 2000). Mating with many males may also serve to avoid genetic incompatibility (Newcomer et al 1999;Simmons 2001), inbreeding (Tregenza & Wedell 2002) or fertilization by older males' sperm that is burdened with deleterious mutations (Radwan 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Good genes and the maternal effects of polyandry on offspring reproductive success in the bulb mite

Kozielska

Krzemińska

Radwan

2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Genetic benefits are potentially the most robust explanation of the controversial issue of evolutionary maintenance of polyandry, but the unambiguous demonstration of such benefits has been hindered by the possibility of their confusion with maternal effects. Previous research has shown that polyandrous bulb mite females produce daughters with higher fecundity than monandrous females. Here, we investigate whether this effect arises because polyandrous females invest more in their offspring, or because their offspring inherit 'good genes' from their fathers. Females were mated with either one or four (different) males. However, by sterilizing three of the four males with ionizing radiation, we eliminated any chance of sexual selection (in the polyandrous treatment) so that any differences in the female mating regimes must have been owing to maternal effects. Polyandry had no significant effect on daughter fecundity, thus indicating that any previously documented effects must have been genetic. This was further supported by a significant association between fathers' offensive sperm-competitive ability and the fecundity of their daughters. The association with fathers' sperm defensive ability was not significant, and neither was the association between fathers' sperm competitiveness and sons' reproductive success. However, sons of polyandrous females had lower reproductive success than sons of monandrous females. This shows that the maternal effects of polyandry should be taken into account whenever its costs and benefits are being considered.

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A "Good-Sperm" Model Can Explain the Evolution of Costly Multiple Mating by Females

Cited by 251 publications

References 33 publications

Polyandrous females benefit by producing sons that achieve high reproductive success in a competitive environment

Polyandrous females benefit by producing sons that achieve high reproductive success in a competitive environment

Superior sperm competitors sire higher–quality young

Good genes and the maternal effects of polyandry on offspring reproductive success in the bulb mite

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