DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Consequences of Sexual Conflict on Offspring Fitness

科学家们早就认识到，对女性来说，繁殖是代价高昂的。对不同物种的研究发现，性活跃的雌性比未交配的雌性寿命短。最近对果蝇的研究发现，雄性果蝇精液中的有毒化合物会缩短雌性果蝇交配后的寿命。有毒化合物的作用和它们进化的原因在很大程度上是一个悬而未决的问题。以前在果蝇身上进行的实验表明，父母的交配频率会影响后代的适合度。该项目的目的是确定接触有毒精液化合物的雌性是否有更好的后代。该项目将比较雌性在饲养一周后重新交配的后代的适应性：1)作为处女，2)与雄性，3)产生精液但不产生精子的转基因雄性，4)不产生精液或精子的转基因雄性。这项研究将有助于确定雌性繁殖成本是否会提高后代的质量。这项工作对于我们了解母性护理、性冲突和亲子冲突以及生殖策略的进化具有重要意义。

Scientists have long recognized that reproduction is costly to females. Research in various species finds that sexually active females have shorter lives than virgin females. Recent studies, in fruit flies, have discovered toxic compounds in the seminal fluid of males that shorten the longevity of females after copulation. What the toxic compounds are doing and why they have evolved is a largely unresolved question. Previous experiments conducted in the fruit fly indicate that the mating frequency of parents affects the fitness of offspring. The goal of this project is to determine whether females exposed to toxic seminal fluid compounds have offspring with improved fitness. This project will compare the fitness of offspring from females that re-mate after holding them for one week 1) as virgins, 2) with males, 3) with genetically altered males that produce seminal fluid but not sperm, 4) with genetically altered males that do not produce seminal fluid or sperm. This study will help determine whether female reproductive costs occur to improve the quality of offspring. This work is important for our general understanding of maternal care, sexual and parent-offspring conflict, and for the evolution of reproductive strategies.