Effects of adaptation to crowded larval environment on the evolution of sperm competitive ability in males of Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Two of the most important environmental factors that affect the sperm competitive ability in males are the availability of resources and the socio-sexual environment. Numerous studies have investigated the individual effects of these factors, but their combined effect on the evolution of sperm competitive ability remains untested. A crowded larval environment is unique because it simultaneously affects the fitness of the organism through both resource availability and the socio-sexual environment. In this study, we used a set of four laboratory populations of D. melanogaster, evolved under a crowded larval environment for more than 165 generations and their respective controls to investigate how the sperm competitive ability of the males is affected by a single generation of larval

SUBMITTER: Kapila R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11660399 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature