Sexual conflict in natural populations

对于大多数生物来说，雄性和雌性有不同的方法来最大化他们将产生的后代的数量，以形成下一代(即他们的适应能力)。这是因为男性产生的配子(精子)消耗的能量很少，而女性配子(卵子)的能量消耗很高。这种情况可能会产生与最佳交配率相关的性冲突。雄性通常受益于尽可能频繁的交配，以使最大数量的卵受精。相比之下，雌性应该避免交配，因为它们通常在一次或几次交配后不需要精子。水行者是交配过程中性别冲突的主要例子。然而，我们的结果更确切地表明，雌性也受益于有几个雄性来繁衍后代。这项研究将使用遗传方法来确定亲子关系，以加深我们对各种因素如何相互作用来决定男性和女性健康状况的理解。将研究交配率与繁殖成功的关系，雄性和雌性影响不同伴侣精子使用的能力，雌性通过多次交配可能获得的繁殖力增加，以及自然L种群的遗传特性对选择过程的影响。这项研究将进一步加深我们对野生种群中选择是如何起作用的理解，以及为什么雌性交配比必要时更频繁。4名研究生和13名本科生将参与这项研究。

For most organisms, males and females have different means of maximizing the number of offspring they will produce to form the next generation (that is, their fitness). This arises because male produce gametes (sperm) that cost little energy, while female gametes (eggs) are energetically costly. This situation can generate a sexual conflict related to the optimal mating rate. Males generally benefit from mating as often as possible to fertilize a maximum number of eggs. In contrast, females should avoid mating because they often do not require sperm after one or a few copulations. Water striders are prime examples of sexual conflict over mating. Yet, our results rather suggest that females also benefit from having several males siring their offspring. This research will use a genetic approach to determine parentage relationships to refine our understanding of how factors interact to determine male and female fitness. The relationship between mating rate and reproductive success, the capacity of males and females at influencing how sperm from different partners is used, the increased fecundity that female may acquire from multiple mating, and the influence of genetic properties of natura l population on selective processes will be investigated. This research will further our understanding of how selection works in wild population, and why female mate more often than necessary. Four graduate and 13 undergraduate will be involved in this research.