Sperm depletion in relation to developmental nutrition and genotype in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Nutrient limitation during development can restrict the ability of adults to invest in costly fitness traits, and genotypes can vary in their sensitivity to developmental nutrition. However, little is known about how genotype and nutrition affect male ability to maintain ejaculate allocation and achieve fertilization across successive matings. Using 17 isogenic lines of Drosophila melanogaster, we investigated how variation in developmental nutrition affects males' abilities to mate, transfer sperm, and sire offspring when presented with successive virgin females. We found that, with each successive mating, males required longer to initiate copulation, transferred fewer sperm, and sired fewer offspring. Males reared on a low-nutrient diet transferred fewer sperm than those reared on nutrit

SUBMITTER: Macartney EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9297908 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature