Linking sperm length and velocity: the importance of intramale variation
Linking sperm length and velocity: the importance of intramale variation
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2010.0231
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发表时间：
2010-12-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Evans, Jonathan P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fitzpatrick, John L.;Garcia-Gonzalez, Francisco;Evans, Jonathan P.
通过精子竞争施加的选择通常被认为会促进更长精子的进化，因为精子长度被认为与精子游泳速度呈正相关。然而，这一假设的基础仍然存在争议，而且令人惊讶的是，很少有种内证据表明精子的形式和功能之间存在这种联系。在这里，我们表明，精子的长度和速度是高度相关的海胆Heliocidaris erythrogramma，但重要的是，我们报告说，未能考虑到这些精子性状的雄性内变异可以掩盖这种关系。这些发现，结合越来越多的证据表明精子性状的种内差异极高，表明精子形态和速度之间的功能联系可能比目前的证据表明的更普遍。我们的研究结果还表明，选择游泳速度更快的精子可能会促进更长精子的进化，从而支持宏观进化研究的最新发现。
Selection imposed through sperm competition is commonly thought to promote the evolution of longer sperm, since sperm length is assumed to be positively associated with sperm swimming velocity. Yet, the basis for this assumption remains controversial, and there is surprisingly little intraspecific evidence demonstrating such a link between sperm form and function. Here, we show that sperm length and velocity are highly correlated in the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma, but importantly we report that failure to account for within-male variation in these sperm traits can obscure this relationship. These findings, in conjunction with the mounting evidence for extremely high levels of intraspecific variance in sperm traits, suggest that a functional link between sperm morphology and velocity may be more prevalent than what current evidence suggests. Our findings also suggest that selection for faster swimming sperm may promote the evolution of longer sperm, thereby supporting recent findings from macroevolutionary studies.