How does the environment impact female control of fertilisation?

我的博士项目旨在确定不同的环境因素如何影响女性主动选择一些精子进行受精的能力，使用果蝇，果蝇，作为模型系统。交配后，雌性的配偶选择可以在雌性生殖道内继续进行，这一过程被称为隐性雌性选择或精子选择。在交配之前，配偶的选择是非常可变的，不同的环境因素会影响“愚蠢”的成本。然而，交配后精子选择的变化还没有被研究过，也没有与不同的环境条件联系起来，这就是我们在这里探索的目标。我们将开发一种新的实验方案来测量女性精子选择的程度，同时消除男性的影响，并测试精子选择是否会根据女性的社会环境，条件，年龄或温度而变化。在实现这一目标的过程中，我们将能够更好地理解和预测我们当前的气候危机可能如何影响整个动物王国的物种进化和生殖行为。摘要：在内部受精动物中，雌性生殖道是精子竞争使卵子受精的竞技场。这为雌性提供了巨大的潜力，可以在交配后控制受精并塑造进化轨迹，受精结果通过性选择和性冲突强烈影响雄性和雌性生殖特征的进化。然而，同一物种的雌性通常被认为以同样的方式控制受精。这是令人惊讶的，因为我们知道，女性择偶（交配前的女性控制）可以是高度灵活的，根据女性的环境或健康而变化。重要的是，这些因素对女性控制受精的影响尚未得到适当的测试。为了解决这一基本问题，我们将研究环境如何影响雌性控制受精的模式果蝇Drosophila melanogaster。2.实验测试雌性的社会环境如何影响交配后对有吸引力的雄性的偏好3.实验测试雌性的年龄或健康如何影响交配后对有吸引力的雄性的偏好

My PhD project aims to identify how different environmental factors can affect a female's ability to actively select some sperm over others for fertilisation, using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system. Female mate choice can continue after copulation, within the female reproductive tract, in a process known as cryptic female choice or sperm choice. Before mating, mate choice is known to be very variable, with different environmental factors affecting the cost of being 'choosy'. Variation in sperm choice after mating has not been studied however, nor has it been linked to different environmental conditions, which is what we aim to explore here. We will develop a novel experimental protocol to measure the extent of female sperm choice, whilst eliminating male affects, and test whether sperm choice varies according to a female's social environment, condition, age or temperature. In achieving this, we will be able to better understand and predict how our current climate crisis is likely to impact the evolution and reproductive behaviour of species across the animal kingdom.Summary: In internally-fertilising animals, the female reproductive tract is the arena in which sperm compete to fertilise eggs. This provides females with enormous potential to control fertilisation after mating and shape evolutionary trajectories, with fertilisation outcomes strongly influencing the evolution of male and female reproductive traits through sexual selection and sexual conflict. However, females of the same species are generally assumed to control fertilisation in the same way. This is surprising, because we know that female mate choice (female control before mating) can be highly flexible, changing according to a female's environment or health. Importantly, the effect of these factors on female control of fertilisation has not been properly tested. To address this fundamental problem, we will investigate how the environment influences female control of fertilisation using the model fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.Objectives1.Develop an experimental protocol for measuring active female control of fertilisation in D. melanogaster, in terms of female behaviour and fertilisation outcomes2.Experimentally test how a female's social environment influences the strength of post-mating preference for attractive males 3.Experimentally test how a female's age or health influences the strength of post-mating preference for attractive males