Mating strategies in changing environments

背景性别选择是推动快速进化变化的一股强大力量。性选择通常在交配后继续进行，当雌性与多个雄性交配时，产生精子竞争和神秘的雌性选择(统称为“交配后性选择”PCSS)。PCSS偏爱在交配时有策略地分配射精的雄性。例如，为了获得更高的亲子关系份额，当男性感觉到他们的配偶与竞争对手交配的风险增加时，他们可能会促进精子转移。了解射精策略及其在PCSS中的作用是该领域的一个主要目标。然而，大多数研究都是在良好的实验室条件下进行的。在自然界中，动物会经历应激源，例如食物短缺、疾病暴发和不利的天气条件。这些压力有可能改变雄性在交配时转移的内容，以及雌性的反应方式，塑造最佳策略和PCSS的运作。总体目标：研究环境应激源在果蝇雄性射精分配中的作用及其对PCSS的影响。目的：在两性中，测试在交配时对雄性精子和精液分配的影响，以及由此产生的父子结局，OFA)营养限制b)感染c)温度压力新鲜度和时间我们目前了解到PCSS广泛存在。然而，一个常见的脱节是男性策略和由此产生的父子关系结果之间的联系，这些结果要么没有被测量，要么结果不一致。我们的想法是，实验室研究中通常使用的非自然良性条件掩盖了在自然界中有益的适应。现在需要的是测试暴露在压力源下(无论男女)是否会揭示出男性转移的内容与他们所获得的父亲份额之间的更强联系。这就是这个项目将做的，为性选择领域迈出新的一步，并将其与全球变化联系起来。

BackgroundSexual selection is a potent force that drives rapid evolutionary change. Sexual selection often continues after mating, when females mate with multiple males, generating sperm competition and cryptic female choice (collectively "post-copulatory sexual selection" PCSS). PCSS favours males that strategically allocate ejaculates at mating. E.g., to achieve a higher paternity share, males may boost sperm transfer when they sense a heightened risk that their mates will copulate with rival males. Understanding ejaculate strategies and their role in PCSS is a major goal in the field. However, most studies are conducted under benign lab conditions. In nature, animals will experience stressors, e.g. food shortages, disease outbreaks and adverse weather conditions. These stresses have the potential to alter what males transfer at mating, and how females respond, shaping optimal strategies and the operation of PCSS. ObjectivesOverall Aim: Examine the roles of environmental stressors on male ejaculate allocation and the consequences for PCSS in Drosophila fruit flies.Objectives: in both sexes, to test the effects on male sperm and seminal fluid allocation at mating, and resulting paternity outcomes, ofa) nutritional restriction b) infectionsc) temperature stressNovelty and TimelinessWe currently understand that PCSS is widespread. However, a common disconnect is the link between male strategies, and the resulting paternity outcomes, which are either not measured, or results are inconsistent. Our idea is that the unnaturally benign conditions commonly used in lab studies mask adaptations that would be beneficial in nature. What is needed now is to test whether exposure to stressors (in both sexes) will reveal a stronger link between what males transfer, and the paternity share they achieve. This is what this project will do, forging a novel step forward for the field of sexual selection, and linking it with global change.