Genetic effects on sperm design in the zebra finch
Genetic effects on sperm design in the zebra finch
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DOI：
10.1038/nature03374
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发表时间：
2005-03-17
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Castillo-Juarez, H
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Birkhead, TR;Pellatt, EJ;Castillo-Juarez, H
精子设计和功能是男性生殖成功的重要决定因素，预计将受到强选择（1，2）。精子表型进化的方式知之甚少，因为很少有精子数量遗传学的研究（3-5）。在这里，我们表明，在斑胸草雀Taeniopygia guttata，一个非凡的程度的精子设计的雄性间的变化是独立的精子游泳速度。一项利用900多只斑胸草雀的数据进行的数量遗传学研究表明，精子头、中段和鞭毛长度是可遗传的，精子性状之间存在负遗传相关，存在显著的间接（母体）遗传效应。对斑胸草雀精子表型的选择可能很低，因为精子竞争在这个物种中不常见（6），这与负遗传相关和母体遗传效应相结合，可能是雄性之间精子表型变异的原因。这些结果对其他类群精子的进化具有重要意义。
Sperm design and function are important determinants of male reproductive success and are expected to be under strong selection(1,2). The way that spermatozoa phenotypes evolve is poorly understood, because there have been few studies of the quantitative genetics of sperm(3-5). Here we show, in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata, an extraordinary degree of inter-male variation in sperm design that is independent of sperm swimming velocity. A quantitative genetics study using data from over 900 zebra finches in a complex breeding experiment showed that sperm head, mid-piece and flagellum length are heritable, that negative genetic correlations exist between sperm traits, and that significant indirect ( maternal) genetic effects exist. Selection on the zebra finch sperm phenotype may be low because sperm competition is infrequent in this species(6), and this, in combination with negative genetic correlations and maternal genetic effects, may account for the variation in sperm phenotype between males. These results have important implications for the evolution of sperm in other taxa.