Monogamy removes constraints on reproductive tissue investment imposed by intense sexual selection

A key factor influencing the reproductive success and fitness of an individual is the allocation of resources to reproductive tissue. Previous research has documented positive influences of sexual selection on the evolution of male traits such as testes size. However, few studies have focused on whether sexual selection shapes overall reproductive tissue investment patterns, and even fewer have studied it in both males and females. Furthermore, whether the ecological/demographic context modulates these effects is not known. We used experimental evolution on an insect model system to assess the independent and interactive effects of sexual selection intensity (intense [polygamy] vs. relaxed [monogamy]) and metapopulation structure (absent vs. present) on reproductive tissue investment in both sexes. Counterintuitively, we found that both males and females evolving under monogamy had higher relative reproductive tissue investment than individuals evolving under polygamy. We found no independent effect of metapopulation structure or any interactive effect with sexual selection on reproductive tissue investment of either sex. Our findings suggest that trade-offs between pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection may constrain reproductive tissue investment under intense sexual selection, and that selection under monogamy removes this constraint. Generally, our study underscores the complexities underpinning the evolution of reproductive allocation strategies.

Evolution of male nuptial gift and female remating: A quantitative genetic model

In some species of separate sexes, males present a nuptial gift containing nutrition to their mate. Producing a large nuptial gift is a considerable cost to the male, but it may improve his siring success if the female reduces the likelihood to accept another male after receiving a large gift. The female may receive a direct benefit by accepting another male who provides an additional nuptial gift. Additionally, the female may receive an indirect fitness benefit via laying offspring sired by a male who is able to produce a large nuptial gift. We formalized the multivariate quantitative genetics model describing the coevolution of the size of nuptial gift produced by the male (x) and the female's propensity to engage in remating (y). We analyzed the model focusing two cases: [1] remating females receive no indirect fitness benefit, but enjoy direct benefit of nutrition; and [2] remating females receive no direct benefit, but enjoy an indirect fitness benefit due to a positive genetic correlation of x and y, which is possible if random mutations tend to make males produce small nuptial gifts. In both cases, the stable evolutionary equilibrium with neither nuptial gift nor remating (x-=y-=0) always exists. Another stable equilibrium may exist in which male produces nuptial gifts (x->0) and female engage in multiple mating (y->0). We discussed implications to the sexual conflict.

Identification of seminal proteins related to the inhibition of mate searching in female crickets

In response to the reduction in fitness associated with sperm competition, males are expected to evolve tactics that hinder female remating. For example, females often display a postmating reduction in their sexual receptivity that has been shown to be mediated by proteins contained in a male’s seminal fluid (sfps). However, although there has been comprehensive research on sfps in genetically well-characterized species, few nonmodel species have been studied in such detail. We initially confirm that female Australian field crickets, Teleogryllus oceanicus, do display a significant reduction in their mate-searching behavior 24 h after mating. This effect was still apparent 3 days after mating but was entirely absent after 1 week. We then attempted to identify the sfps that might play a role in inducing this behavioral response. We identified two proteins, ToSfp022 and ToSfp011, that were associated with the alteration in female postmating behavior. The knockdown of both proteins resulted in mated females that displayed a significant increase in their mate-searching behaviors compared with females mated to males having the full compliment of seminal fluid proteins in their ejaculate. Our results indicate that the female refractory period in T. oceanicus likely reflects a sperm competition avoidance tactic by males, achieved through the action of male seminal fluid proteins.

Injection of seminal fluid into the hemocoel of honey bee queens (Apis mellifera) can stimulate post-mating changes

Honey bee queens undergo dramatic behavioral (e.g., reduced sexual receptivity), physiological (e.g., ovary activation, ovulation, and modulation of pheromone production) and transcriptional changes after they complete mating. To elucidate how queen post-mating changes are influenced by seminal fluid, the non-spermatozoa-containing component of semen, we injected queens with semen or seminal fluid alone. We assessed queen sexual receptivity (as measured by likelihood to take mating flights), ovary activation, worker retinue response (which is influenced by queen pheromone production), and transcriptional changes in queen abdominal fat body and brain tissues. Injection with either seminal fluid or semen resulted in decreased sexual receptivity, increased attractiveness of queens to workers, and altered expression of several genes that are also regulated by natural mating in queens. The post-mating and transcriptional changes of queens receiving seminal fluid were not significantly different from queens injected with semen, suggesting that components in seminal fluid, such as seminal fluid proteins, are largely responsible for stimulating post-mating changes in queens.

Male seminal fluid substances affect sperm competition success and female reproductive behavior in a seed beetle

Male seminal fluid proteins are known to affect female reproductive behavior and physiology by reducing mating receptivity and by increasing egg production rates. Such substances are also though to increase the competitive fertilization success of males, but the empirical foundation for this tenet is restricted. Here, we examined the effects of injections of size-fractioned protein extracts from male reproductive organs on both male competitive fertilization success (i.e., P2 in double mating experiments) and female reproduction in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. We found that extracts of male seminal vesicles and ejaculatory ducts increased competitive fertilization success when males mated with females 1 day after the females’ initial mating, while extracts from accessory glands and testes increased competitive fertilization success when males mated with females 2 days after the females’ initial mating. Moreover, different size fractions of seminal fluid proteins had distinct and partly antagonistic effects on male competitive fertilization success. Collectively, our experiments show that several different seminal fluid proteins, deriving from different parts in the male reproductive tract and of different molecular weight, affect male competitive fertilization success in C. maculatus. Our results highlight the diverse effects of seminal fluid proteins and show that the function of such proteins can be contingent upon female mating status. We also document effects of different size fractions on female mating receptivity and egg laying rates, which can serve as a basis for future efforts to identify the molecular identity of seminal fluid proteins and their function in this model species.

Genetic variation in the effect of monoamines on female mating receptivity and oviposition in the adzuki bean beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Background

Female mate choice after mating is a strong force in sexual selection and could lead to coevolution of mating traits between the sexes. How females of different genotypes respond to substances in the male ejaculate should be mediated by females’ mate choices. Monoamines regulate animal physiology and behavior, including the post-mating behavior of females of the adzuki bean beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). This study examined differences in females’ response to four monoamines (dopamine, octopamine, tyramine, serotonin) between strains from different populations of C. chinensis.

Results

Injection with either octopamine or tyramine, two kinds of monoamines significantly reduced female receptivity in two strains with low remating frequencies. None of the four monoamines reduced female receptivity in one strain with high remating frequencies. However, all monoamines reduced it in another strain with high remating frequencies. Oviposition was activated by tyramine on days 1–5 or by serotonin on days 4 and 5 in the two strains with low remating frequencies, but only on day 1 or day 4 in the strains with high remating frequencies.

Conclusion

These differences in female response to monoamines, especially tyramine and serotonin, correspond with results of previous studies. They indicate differences in female response to male substances that reduce receptivity and activate oviposition. These findings suggest relationships between the differences in female response to male substances among populations and mutations in the pathways of monoamine biosynthesis or transmission, which in turn determine female mate choice in response to male substances.

The seminal symphony: how to compose an ejaculate

Ejaculates are fundamental to fitness in sexually reproducing animals: males gain all their direct fitness via the ejaculate and females require ejaculates to reproduce. Both sperm and non-sperm components of the ejaculate (including parasperm, seminal proteins, water, and macromolecules) play vital roles in postcopulatory sexual selection and conflict, processes that can potentially drive rapid evolutionary change and reproductive isolation. Here, we assess the increasing evidence that considering ejaculate composition as a whole (and potential trade-offs among ejaculate components) has important consequences for predictions about male reproductive investment and female responses to ejaculates. We review current theory and empirical work, and detail how social and environmental effects on ejaculate composition have potentially far-reaching fitness consequences for both sexes.