Ejaculate-mediated paternal effects on offspring fitness

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This project aims to unravel the evolutionary importance of ejaculate-mediated paternal effects, through which paternal lifestyle factors, such as diet and exposure to toxicants, influence offspring growth and health independently of genes. By identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying these non-genetic sources of inheritance, their adaptive value, and their potential to fuel evolutionary change, the project expects to generate new knowledge that will be relevant across the biological, medical and agricultural sectors. Expected outcomes and benefits include building institutional and interdisciplinary collaborations and the development of tools to understand the evolutionary impacts of paternal lifestyle choices for offspring traits.