A cost for high levels of sperm competition in rodents: increased sperm DNA fragmentation.

ABSTRACT: Sperm competition, a prevalent evolutionary process in which the spermatozoa of two or more males compete for the fertilization of the same ovum, leads to morphological and physiological adaptations, including increases in energetic metabolism that may serve to propel sperm faster but that may have negative effects on DNA integrity. Sperm DNA damage is associated with reduced rates of fertilization, embryo and fetal loss, offspring mortality, and mutations leading to genetic disease. We tested whether high levels of sperm competition affect sperm DNA integrity. We evaluated sperm DNA integrity in 18 species of rodents that differ in their levels of sperm competition using the sperm chromatin structure assay. DNA integrity was assessed upon sperm collection, in response to incubation under

SUBMITTER: delBarco-Trillo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4810851 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature