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}
}
  • S. Pitnick
  • Published 1 July 1996
  • Biology
  • The American Naturalist
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… 
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250 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
18
Background Citations
140
Methods Citations
5
Results Citations
13

250 Citations

SPERM COMPETITION SELECTS BEYOND RELATIVE TESTES SIZE IN BIRDS
TLDR
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
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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
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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.
Sperm competition and sperm length influence the rate of mammalian spermatogenesis
TLDR
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.
TLDR
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
TLDR
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
TLDR
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
TLDR
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?
  • R. R. Snook
  • Biology
    Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
  • 1997
TLDR
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.
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