Population density effects on gamete traits and fertilisation dynamics under varying sperm environments in mussels.

Autor: Sherman CDH; School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Geelong Victoria Australia., Careau V; Department of Biology University of Ottawa Ottawa Ontario Canada., Gasparini C; Department of Biology University of Padova Padova Italy., Weston KJ; School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Geelong Victoria Australia., Evans JP; Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley Western Australia Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2024 May 02; Vol. 14 (5), pp. e11338. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 02 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11338
Abstrakt: Gamete traits can vary widely among species, populations and individuals, influencing fertilisation dynamics and overall reproductive fitness. Sexual selection can play an important role in determining the evolution of gamete traits with local environmental conditions determining the strength and direction of sexual selection. Here, we test for signatures of post-mating selection on gamete traits in relation to population density, and possible interactive effects of population density and sperm concentration on sperm motility and fertilisation rates among natural populations of mussels. Our study shows that males from high-density populations produce smaller sperm compared with males from low-density populations, but we detected no effect of population density on egg size. Our results also reveal that females from low-density populations tended to exhibit lower fertilisation rates across a range of sperm concentrations, although this became less important as sperm concentration increased. Variances in fertilisation success were higher for females than males and the effect of gamete compatibility between males and females increases as sperm concentrations increase. These results suggest that local population density can influence gamete traits and fertilisation dynamics but also highlight the importance of phenotypic plasticity in governing sperm-egg interactions in a highly dynamic selective environment.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
(© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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