Protein and carbohydrate intake influence sperm number and fertility in male cockroaches, but not sperm viability

Bunning, Harriet; Rapkin, James; Belcher, Laurence; Archer, C. Ruth; Jensen, Kristoffer; Hunt, John

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2144

Cited by 73 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Our study also supports previous findings on the strong effects of carbohydrate intake on male reproduction, which seems to be consistent across insect species1215161723. This taxonomic consistency suggests a tentative possibility of a widespread effect of carbohydrate on male reproduction in invertebrates.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…). First, males might maximize a trait that has not been measured in the study15 or regulate nutrient intake to maximize multiple, competing traits1617. However, males might also be constrained in their dietary balance for the expression of fitness traits because of their shared genome and dietary preferences with females (“sexual conflict over nutrition”), which might shift male choice to a diet balance that is not optimal for male’s fitness (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although recent studies have attempted to investigate dietary effects on the interrelation between pre- and post-copulatory traits (e.g 19202112151617182223. Most studies in this field have focused primarily on pre-copulatory traits (e.g 121723…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most studies in this field have focused primarily on pre-copulatory traits (e.g 12172315162224. For instance, recent work indicates that a protein:carbohydrate ratio of 1:2 maximises sperm number and fertility in the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea 23.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Differential effects of male nutrient balance on pre- and post-copulatory traits, and consequences for female reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

Morimoto

Wigby

2016

Sci Rep

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Male fitness depends on the expression of costly traits involved in obtaining mates (pre-copulatory) and fertilization (post-copulatory). However, very little is known about the nutrient requirements for these traits and whether males compromise their diet to maximize one trait at the expense of another. Here we used Nutritional Geometry to investigate macronutrient requirements for pre- and post-copulatory traits in Drosophila, when males were the first or second to mate with females. We found no significant effects of male diet on sperm competitiveness. However, although males self-regulate their macronutrient intake at a protein-to-carbohydrate ratio (“P:C ratio”) of 1:1.5, this ratio does not coincide with their optima for several key reproductive traits: both the short-term (~24 hr) rate of offspring production after a female’s first mating, as well as the total offspring number sired when males were second to mate were maximized at a P:C ratio of 1:9, whereas male attractiveness (latency to mate), were maximised at a P:C ratio of 1:1. These results suggest a compromised optimum diet, and no single diet that simultaneously maximizes all male reproductive traits. The protein intake of first males also negatively affected female offspring production following remating, suggesting a long-term intersexual effect of male nutrition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential effects of male nutrient balance on pre- and post-copulatory traits, and consequences for female reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

Morimoto

Wigby

2016

Sci Rep

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“…Since ejaculates are costly to produce [44, 52], it follows that a poor juvenile diet could negatively affect the number, quality, and rate of sperm production (e.g. [53, 54]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

2016

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BackgroundChallenging conditions experienced early in life, such as a restricted diet, can detrimentally affect key life-history traits. Individuals can reduce these costs by delaying their sexual maturation, albeit at the price of the later onset of breeding, to eventually reach the same adult size as individuals that grow up in a benevolent environment. Delayed maturation can, however, still lead to other detrimental morphological and physiological changes that become apparent later in adulthood (e.g. shorter lifespan, faster senescence). In general, research focuses on the naturally selected costs of a poor early diet. In mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), males with limited food intake early in life delay maturation to reach a similar adult body size to their well-fed counterparts (‘catch-up growth’). Here we tested whether a poor early diet is costly due to the reduced expression of sexually selected male characters, namely genital size and ejaculate traits.ResultsWe found that a male’s diet early in life significantly influenced his sperm reserves and sperm replenishment rate. Shortly after maturation males with a restricted early diet had significantly lower sperm reserves and slower replenishment rates than control diet males, but this dietary difference was no longer detectable in older males.ConclusionsAlthough delaying maturation to reach the same body size as well fed juveniles can ameliorate some costs of a poor start in life, our findings suggest that costs might still arise because of sexual selection against these males. It should be noted, however, that the observed effects are modest (Hedges’ g = 0.20–0.36), and the assumption that lower sperm production translates into a decline in fitness under sperm competition remains unconfirmed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0838-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Dietary choice for a balanced nutrient intake increases the mean and reduces the variance in the reproductive performance of male and female cockroaches

Bunning

Bassett

Clowser

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Sexual selection may cause dietary requirements for reproduction to diverge across the sexes and promote the evolution of different foraging strategies in males and females. However, our understanding of how the sexes regulate their nutrition and the effects that this has on sex‐specific fitness is limited. We quantified how protein (P) and carbohydrate (C) intakes affect reproductive traits in male (pheromone expression) and female (clutch size and gestation time) cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea). We then determined how the sexes regulate their intake of nutrients when restricted to a single diet and when given dietary choice and how this affected expression of these important reproductive traits. Pheromone levels that improve male attractiveness, female clutch size and gestation time all peaked at a high daily intake of P:C in a 1:8 ratio. This is surprising because female insects typically require more P than males to maximize reproduction. The relatively low P requirement of females may reflect the action of cockroach endosymbionts that help recycle stored nitrogen for protein synthesis. When constrained to a single diet, both sexes prioritized regulating their daily intake of P over C, although this prioritization was stronger in females than males. When given the choice between diets, both sexes actively regulated their intake of nutrients at a 1:4.8 P:C ratio. The P:C ratio did not overlap exactly with the intake of nutrients that optimized reproductive trait expression. Despite this, cockroaches of both sexes that were given dietary choice generally improved the mean and reduced the variance in all reproductive traits we measured relative to animals fed a single diet from the diet choice pair. This pattern was not as strong when compared to the single best diet in our geometric array, suggesting that the relationship between nutrient balancing and reproduction is complex in this species.

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Protein and carbohydrate intake influence sperm number and fertility in male cockroaches, but not sperm viability

Cited by 73 publications

References 58 publications

Differential effects of male nutrient balance on pre- and post-copulatory traits, and consequences for female reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

Differential effects of male nutrient balance on pre- and post-copulatory traits, and consequences for female reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

Dietary choice for a balanced nutrient intake increases the mean and reduces the variance in the reproductive performance of male and female cockroaches

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