Selfish genetic elements and sexual selection: their impact on male fertility

Females of many species mate with more than one male (polyandry), yet the adaptive significance of polyandry is poorly understood. One hypothesis to explain the widespread occurrence of multiple mating is that it may allow females to utilize post-copulatory mechanisms to reduce the risk of fertilizi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genetica 2008-09, Vol.134 (1), p.99-111
Main Authors: Price, Tom A. R, Wedell, Nina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Female
Females
Fertility
Fertility - genetics
Human Genetics
Humans
Life Sciences
Male
Mate choice
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Plants - genetics
polyandry
Reproduction - genetics
Risk reduction
Selection, Genetic
Selfish genetic elements
Sexual Behavior, Animal
sexual selection
sperm competition
Spermatozoa - physiology
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Summary:Females of many species mate with more than one male (polyandry), yet the adaptive significance of polyandry is poorly understood. One hypothesis to explain the widespread occurrence of multiple mating is that it may allow females to utilize post-copulatory mechanisms to reduce the risk of fertilizing their eggs with sperm from incompatible males. Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes, frequent sources of reproductive incompatibilities, and associated with fitness costs. However, their impact on sexual selection is largely unexplored. In this review we examine the link between SGEs, male fertility and sperm competitive ability. We show there is widespread evidence that SGEs are associated with reduced fertility in both animals and plants, and present some recent data showing that males carrying SGEs have reduced paternity in sperm competition. We also discuss possible reasons why male gametes are particularly vulnerable to the selfish actions of SGEs. The widespread reduction in male fertility caused by SGEs implies polyandry may be a successful female strategy to bias paternity against SGE-carrying males.
ISSN:0016-6707
1573-6857
DOI:10.1007/s10709-008-9253-y