A sex-chromosome inversion causes strong overdominance for sperm traits that affect siring success

Knief, Ulrich; Forstmeier, Wolfgang; Pei, Yifan; Ihle, Malika; Wang, Daiping; Martin, Katrin; Opatová, Pavlína; Albrechtová, Jana; Wittig, Michael; Franke, André; Albrecht, Tomáš; Kempenaers, Bart

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0236-1

Cited by 72 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Second, the zebra finch might in fact have a very specific architecture of genes influencing sperm morphology. Two recent studies found that these genes are located on the Z chromosome and, due to strong linkage disequilibrium, effectively work as one “supergene” (Kim et al., ; Knief et al., ). Consequently, the phenotype largely depends on whether an individual is a homozygote or a heterozygote for normal and inverted haplotypes (Kim et al., ; Knief et al., ) which may underlie the high evolvability and heritability of sperm morphology, as well as the negative genetic correlation between some sperm sections (Birkhead et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be the case in the only studied bird species, the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata , where the heritability of total sperm length was estimated to be 0.63 ± 0.11 SE (Mossman et al., ). Recent genetic studies in the zebra finch have shown that genes underlying sperm morphology are located on the Z chromosome which has a low recombination rate due to a large chromosomal inversion in some haplotypes (Kim et al., ; Knief et al., ). Consequently, these linked genes act as one “supergene” with a major effect on sperm phenotype.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moderate heritability and low evolvability of sperm morphology in a species with high risk of sperm competition, the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Edme

Zobač

Korsten

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Spermatozoa represent the morphologically most diverse type of animal cells and show remarkable variation in size across and also within species. To understand the evolution of this diversity, it is important to reveal to what degree this variation is genetic or environmental in origin and whether this depends on species’ life histories. Here we applied quantitative genetic methods to a pedigreed multigenerational data set of the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis, a passerine bird with high levels of extra‐pair paternity, to partition genetic and environmental sources of phenotypic variation in sperm dimensions for the first time in a natural population. Narrow‐sense heritability (h2) of total sperm length amounted to 0.44 ± 0.14 SE, whereas the corresponding figure for evolvability (estimated as coefficient of additive genetic variation, CVa) was 0.02 ± 0.003 SE. We also found an increase in total sperm length within individual males between the arrival and nestling period. This seasonal variation may reflect constraints in the production of fully elongated spermatozoa shortly after arrival at the breeding grounds. There was no evidence of an effect of male age on sperm dimensions. In many previous studies on laboratory populations of several insect, mammal and avian species, heritabilities of sperm morphology were higher, whereas evolvabilities were similar. Explanations for the differences in heritability may include variation in the environment (laboratory vs. wild), intensity of sexual selection via sperm competition (high vs. low) and genetic architecture that involves unusual linkage disequilibrium coupled with overdominance in one of the studied species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate heritability and low evolvability of sperm morphology in a species with high risk of sperm competition, the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Edme

Zobač

Korsten

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…; Knief et al. ). We also evaluated variation in tail length (the part of flagellum not wrapped by the midpiece), but the association with sperm performance remains unclear for this trait.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The length of the sperm head (including acrosome), the midpiece, and the tail of each sperm were later measured to the nearest 0.1 μm using QuickPhoto Industrial software (Olympus) following standard protocol (e.g., Knief et al. ). Total sperm length was calculated as the sum of these three components.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm divergence in a passerine contact zone: Indication of reinforcement at the gametic level

et al. 2019

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Postcopulatory sexual selection may promote evolutionary diversification in sperm form, but the contribution of between‐species divergence in sperm morphology to the origin of reproductive isolation and speciation remains little understood. To assess the possible role of sperm diversification in reproductive isolation, we studied sperm morphology in two closely related bird species, the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), that hybridize in a secondary contact zone spanning Central and Eastern Europe. We found: (1) striking divergence between the species in total sperm length, accompanied by a difference in the length of the mitochondrial sperm component; (2) greater divergence between species in sperm morphology in sympatry than in allopatry, with evidence for character displacement in sperm head length detected in L. megarhynchos; (3) interspecific hybrids showing sperm with a length intermediate between the parental species, but no evidence for decreased sperm quality (the proportion of abnormal spermatozoa in ejaculates). Our results demonstrate that divergence in sperm morphology between the two nightingale species does not result in intrinsic postzygotic isolation, but may contribute to postcopulatory prezygotic isolation. This isolation could be strengthened in sympatry by reinforcement.

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“…On the other hand, a study of 40 bird species found significant associations for all morphometric traits examined with sperm velocity, including midpiece length, flagellum length and the ratio of midpiece:flagellum length (Lüpold et al, ). Perhaps the most conclusive evidence yet comes from the zebra finch, in which midpiece length and flagellum length are genetically correlated (Birkhead, Pellatt, Brekke, Yeates, & Castillo‐Juarez, ) and associated with sperm velocity, mediated by an inversion on the Z chromosome (Kim et al, ; Knief et al, ). Moreover, zebra finches subject to oxidative challenge produce slower sperm with shorter midpieces (Tomáŝek, Albrechtová, Nĕmcová, Opatová, & Albrecht, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low‐mobility sperm phenotype in the domestic turkey: Impact on sperm morphometry and early embryonic death

Manier

Welch

Nispen

et al. 2019

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Contents The sperm mobility assay measures the ability of sperm to swim through a dense layer of Accudenz®, and the sperm mobility phenotype has been shown to predict fertility and other sperm performance traits in roosters and turkeys. In this study, we examined turkey sperm morphometry and rates of early embryonic death associated with high‐ and low‐mobility semen. We also assessed whether the hypo‐osmotic stress test, which evaluates the structural integrity of the sperm plasma membrane, may be used as a faster and simpler assay for sperm mobility and viability. We confirmed previous work that found that high‐mobility sperm are faster and swim more linearly than low‐mobility sperm, and that mobility traits were repeatable within males. In contrast to previous studies, we did not find higher rates of fertility, but low‐mobility sperm was associated with higher rates of early embryonic death, though this trend was not significant. High‐mobility sperm had longer sperm heads, explained by longer nuclei, despite shorter acrosomes. Although these sperm were faster, midpiece length and flagellum length did not differ between high‐ and low‐mobility sperm. Finally, mobility was not found to be associated with sperm performance in the hypo‐osmotic stress test.

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A sex-chromosome inversion causes strong overdominance for sperm traits that affect siring success

Cited by 72 publications

References 72 publications

Moderate heritability and low evolvability of sperm morphology in a species with high risk of sperm competition, the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Moderate heritability and low evolvability of sperm morphology in a species with high risk of sperm competition, the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Sperm divergence in a passerine contact zone: Indication of reinforcement at the gametic level

Low‐mobility sperm phenotype in the domestic turkey: Impact on sperm morphometry and early embryonic death

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