The fitness consequences of selection among sperm within an ejaculate across generations

• The evolution of a biphasic life cycle with alternating diploid and haploid phases is a necessary consequence of sexual reproduction in eukaryotes. Selection in each of the phases may have far reaching consequences for many evolutionary processes. While our focus in evolutionary biology lies mainly on selection during the diploid phase, we know relatively little about the role and consequences of selection occurring during the haploid gametic stage. This is particularly true in predominantly diploid animals where the haploid gametic phase is very short. To test the importance of haploid selection in animals, we performed a large-scale selection experiment with selection acting on haploid sperm. We selected on sperm longevity within an ejaculate and tested the effects of such selection over three generation. We performed fitness assays for every generation and found that offspring sired by longer-lived sperm generally exhibit higher fitness from early development into adulthood compared to offspring sired by their shorter-lived sibling sperm in all three generations. These fitness effects were carried over into the second generation without further selection in all three generations. Moreover, using RNA sequencing, we assessed differences in tissue specific gene expression between the offspring sired by the two sperm phenotypes in generation F1 and F3. The transcriptomes in both tissues differed significantly between the two treatments. Many very basic housekeeping genes involved in metabolism and development showed small differences in expression in both tissues. Our study provides solid evidence for the far-reaching consequences of selection on different sperm within a single ejaculate in three consecutive generations, and offers exciting new insights into the possible underlying mechanisms. Our results further highlight the importance of selection at the haploid gametic stages for fundamental evolutionary processes and assisted fertilization technologies.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Evolutionsbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Evolutionary Biology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Haploid selection

sperm selection

offspring fitness

gene expression

Biology with specialization in Evolutionary Genetics

Biologi med inriktning mot evolutionär genetik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)