Investment in Testes and the Cost of Making Long Sperm in Drosophila
@article{Pitnick1996InvestmentIT, title={Investment in Testes and the Cost of Making Long Sperm in Drosophila}, author={Scott Pitnick}, journal={The American Naturalist}, year={1996}, volume={148}, pages={57 - 80} }
Relationships among body mass, testis mass, sperm length, and the number of sperm produced were examined among 11 Drosophila species, after controlling for phylogenetic effects. This is the first study to examine many of these relationships comparatively in an invertebrate taxon; patterns observed among these variables were fundamentally different from those consistently reported in studies of vertebrates. In regression analyses, testis mass increased with body mass with an exponent greater…
250 Citations
SPERM COMPETITION SELECTS BEYOND RELATIVE TESTES SIZE IN BIRDS
- BiologyEvolution; international journal of organic evolution
- 2009
A strong link between testis histology and sperm length is found, suggesting selection on testis architecture through selection on sperm size, and that species under intense sperm competition had a greater proportion of sperm-producing tissue within their testes, supporting the prediction that sperm competition fosters adaptations in reproductive organs that extend beyond testes size.
Testes Mass, but Not Sperm Length, Increases with Higher Levels of Polyandry in an Ancient Sex Model
- BiologyPloS one
- 2014
As predicted by the sperm competition theory and according to what happens in other arthropods, testes mass increased in species with higher levels of sperm competition, and influenced positively spermatophore volume, but data was not conclusive for sperm length.
Correlated response in reproductive and life history traits to selection on testis length in Drosophila hydei
- BiologyHeredity
- 2000
The pattern of correlated responses to testis length reveal the potential for the evolution of reproductive strategies to alter important life history attributes as well as microevolutionary processes underlying these interspecific patterns.
Mating system evolution in sperm-heteromorphic Drosophila.
- BiologyJournal of insect physiology
- 2001
Sperm competition and sperm length influence the rate of mammalian spermatogenesis
- BiologyBiology Letters
- 2009
It is concluded that sperm competition selects for both larger testes and a faster rate of spermatogenesis to increase overall sperm production, and that an evolutionary trade-off between sperm size and numbers may be mediated via constraints on the rate ofSpermatogenic tissue imposed by selection for longer sperm.
Sperm competition leads to functional adaptations in avian testes to maximize sperm quantity and quality.
- BiologyReproduction
- 2011
Estimating the different germ cell types and Sertoli cells in testes to assess the efficiency of sperm production and its associations with sperm length and mating system across 10 species of New World Blackbirds suggests that testes have also evolved functional adaptations to maximize sperm quantity and quality.
Sperm Size Evolution in Drosophila: Inter- and Intraspecific Analysis
- BiologyGenetica
- 2004
This paper investigates within-individual, between-individual and between-population variation of sperm length in the two cosmopolitan species, D. simulans and D. melanogaster, finding that the sperm size divergence is unaffected whenever the two species are in sympatry or in allopatry, but the twospecies react differentially to abiotic local factors.
The evolution of sperm and non-sperm producing organs in male Drosophila
- Biology
- 2008
Overall, the results suggest no evidence for gross trade-offs in sperm versus non-sperm compartments across these Drosophila species, and motivate more detailed examination of ejaculate investment patterns.
Coevolution of male and female reproductive structures in Drosophila
- BiologyGenetica
- 2009
The drosophila model is used to investigate the role of male and female reproductive elements in sexual selection and shows that within species, sperm length versus testis length, and spermlength versus seminal receptacle length, are highly correlated.
IS THE PRODUCTION OF MULTIPLE SPERM TYPES ADAPTIVE?
- BiologyEvolution; international journal of organic evolution
- 1997
Different selection pressures on the two sperm length types are suggested; long sperm have evolved in response to fertilization demands and short sperm have been decoupled from these requirements.
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 106 REFERENCES
Large-male advantages associated with costs of sperm production in Drosophila hydei, a species with giant sperm.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1994
Smaller males of the fruit fly Drosophila hydei were found to make a greater relative investment in testicular tissue growth, even though they have shorter and thinner testes, and correlations should exist between male body size, rates of sperm production, and fitness attributes associated with the production of sperm.
Sperm Competition, Sperm Depletion, Paternal Care, and Relative Testis Size in Birds
- BiologyThe American Naturalist
- 1991
Variation in relative testis mass was positively related to variation in copulation frequency per female, and the variation was significant; the sperm competition hypothesis was supported by data and the sperm depletion hypothesis could not account for variation in testis size.
Associations between body size, mating pattern, testis size and sperm lengths across butterflies
- Environmental ScienceProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- 1994
The results suggest that sperm competition in butterflies selects for increased investment in spermatogenesis, and specifically longer fertilizing sperm, which are not selected to be minimally sized to maximize numbers for a purely raffle-based sperm competition mode.
Delayed male maturity is a cost of producing large sperm in Drosophila.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1995
Results suggest that delayed male maturity is a cost of producing long sperm, and a possible physiological mechanism to explain the observed relationship is discussed.
Sperm size and sperm competition in birds
- BiologyProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- 1992
It is concluded that sperm competition influences sperm size in birds and detailed study of this interaction will provide a new dimension to the study of avian mating systems.
Coevolution between male ejaculates and female reproductive biology in eutherian mammals
- BiologyProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- 1993
It is argued that differences in female reproductive biology may also have influenced the evolution of sperm numbers as well as several other sperm traits, suggesting that variation in sperm fertile lifespan may be related to differences in sperm size.
Testis weight, body weight and breeding system in primates
- BiologyNature
- 1981
The hypothesis that selection will favour the male that can deposit the largest number of sperm means that the volume of spermatogenic tissue and hence testis size is far greater in the chimpanzee than in the gorilla or orangutan, and the results support the hypothesis.
Sperm competition influences sperm size in mammals
- BiologyProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- 1991
The view that longer sperm may be adaptive in the context of sperm competition is supported, as it is found that sperm length is positively correlated with maximum sperm velocity.
Size and Function of Mammalian Testes in Relation to Body Size
- Biology
- 1986
Among mammals in general, there is no correlation between size of the testes and their location (abdominal or scrotal) in the body, or between size and body form and mode of locomotion (terrestrial, aquatic, aerial).