Sperm competition, immunity, selfish genes and cancer

Lewis, Zenobia; Price, Tom A. R.; Wedell, Nina

doi:10.1007/s00018-008-8238-4

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 191 publications

(214 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, non‐negligible autosomal dominant disorders are in increase due to selfish mutations tolerated at APA. In deeper evolutionary view, as it was established by Lewis et al () there are links between sperm competition and a range of issues not directly related to reproduction including SGE that are responsible of several epigenetic pathologies in offspring. As reported by Whelan, Nwala, Osgood, and Olariu, (), these SGE present selective advantage in the testis of the father despite a deleterious effect in offspring.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Paternal age: Negative impact on sperm genome decays and IVF outcomes after 40 years

Kaarouch

Bouamoud

Madkour

et al. 2018

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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This study assessed sperm quality declining on relation to paternal age and its impact on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in order to estimate the APA (Advanced Paternal Age) cutoff. For this, 83 couples undergoing IVF treatment for male factor infertility were enrolled. The women age was ≤39 years, whereas the men were divided in two groups: APA (n = 41; age ≥ 40 years) and young (Y) (n = 42; age < 40 years). Conventional semen parameters (volume, concentration, motility, vitality, and morphology) were analyzed in the collected sperm samples. Furthermore, sperm genome decays (SGD) was assessed by TUNEL assay (DNA fragmentation), aniline blue staining (chromatin decondensation), and fluorescent in situ hybridization (aneuploidy). No significant difference was found concerning the conventional semen parameters between APA and Y groups. Conversely, SGD analysis showed increased DNA fragmentation; chromatin decondensation and sperm aneuploidy rates in the APA group (respectively, 41%, 43%, and 14% vs. 25%, 23%, and 4% in Y group). IVF outcomes also were affected by paternal age as indicated by the rates of cancelled embryo transfers, clinical pregnancy and miscarriage in the two groups APA and Y (29%, 17%, and 60% vs. 10%, 32%, and 42%). Finally, statistical analysis of the results suggests that the age of 40 should be considered as the APA cutoff during ART attempts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Paternal age: Negative impact on sperm genome decays and IVF outcomes after 40 years

Kaarouch

Bouamoud

Madkour

et al. 2018

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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“…This situation is common as many SGEs compromise both male fertility and sperm competitive ability [37,38]. The impact of SGEs can either be direct or indirect.…”

Section: When Do Selfish Genetic Elements Promote Polyandry?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If females mate several times, they may potentially swamp the sperm of incompatible males with that of genetically superior males. Of particular importance in this context is the finding that males that carry SGEs frequently have reduced fertility [37,38] and, therefore, often poor sperm competitive ability [39,40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

Wedell

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes and bacteria, and make up a large part of the genome. They frequently target sperm to increase their transmission success, but these manipulations are often associated with reduced male fertility. Low fertility of SGE-carrying males is suggested to promote polyandry as a female strategy to bias paternity against male carriers. Support for this hypothesis is found in several taxa, where SGE-carrying males have reduced sperm competitive ability. In contrast, when SGEs give rise to reproductive incompatibilities between SGE-carrying males and females, polyandry is not necessarily favoured, irrespective of the detrimental impact on male fertility. This is due to the frequency-dependent nature of these incompatibilities, because they will decrease in the population as the frequency of SGEs increases. However, reduced fertility of SGE-carrying males can prevent the successful population invasion of SGEs. In addition, SGEs can directly influence male and female mating behaviour, mating rates and reproductive traits (e.g. female reproductive tract length and male sperm). This reveals a potent and dynamic interaction between SGEs and polyandry highlighting the potential to generate sexual selection and conflict, but also indicates that polyandry can promote harmony within the genome by undermining the spread of SGEs.

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“…They are ubiquitous in living organisms and can make up a high proportion of the genome (Burt and Trivers 2006). Males are particularly vulnerable to the action of SGEs (Taylor and Ingvarsson 2003) due to the presence of maternally inherited cytoplasmic genes that impact on males and the reduced cellular policing that occurs during spermatogenesis (Kleene 2005;Lewis et al 2008). The nature of sperm production in males is such that intra-male sperm competition is common.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence of mate discrimination against males carrying a sex ratio distorter in Drosophila pseudoobscura

Price

Lewis

Smith

et al. 2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) that spread by manipulating spermatogenesis often have highly deleterious effects on males that carry them. Females that mate with male carriers of SGEs can also suffer significant costs: they receive fewer and poorer-quality sperm, their offspring will inherit the deleterious allele, and the sex ratio of their offspring will be biased towards the more common sex. To counter these costs, females are therefore expected to prefer to mate with males that do not carry sex ratio distorters or other deleterious selfish genetic elements. However, despite the potential costs, there are few examples of female choice against males carrying SGEs. We searched for evidence of a female preference in fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura against males carrying a costly meiotic driving X-chromosome Sex Ratio (SR). In a series of five non-competitive mate preference experiments, we find no evidence that females prefer to mate with non-SR males. Our use of five separate experiments, involving more than 800 females, makes it unlikely that this lack of a difference was due to low power or simple chance. We suggest that the lack of female choice against SGE-carrying males may be due to strong selection on SGEs to be indistinguishable from alternative alleles. Furthermore, polyandry, either in direct response to receiving an ejaculate from an SGE-carrying male or carried out indiscriminately when at risk of mating with carriers, may be an alternative response by females to limit the exposure of their offspring to SGEs.

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Sperm competition, immunity, selfish genes and cancer

Cited by 16 publications

References 191 publications

Paternal age: Negative impact on sperm genome decays and IVF outcomes after 40 years

Paternal age: Negative impact on sperm genome decays and IVF outcomes after 40 years

The dynamic relationship between polyandry and selfish genetic elements

No evidence of mate discrimination against males carrying a sex ratio distorter in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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