ArticleEvolution; international journal of organic evolution2013
Cryptic choice of conspecific sperm controlled by the impact of ovarian fluid on sperm swimming behavior.
Article in Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed.
- The role of female reproductive fluid in mediating reproductive isolation between ecotypes of the three-spined stickleback.Zoological letters · 2026Article
- Pervasive convergent evolution of sperm conjugation across the Arthropoda tree of life.Nature communications · 2026Review
- Evidence for genetically-based sperm discrimination in the vaginal tract of a primate species.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Thirty Years of the Biology of Spermatozoa: The Rise and Future of an Evolutionary Paradigm.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal translation of sperm acrosome associated proteins during early capacitation modulates sperm fertilizing ability.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Limited inbreeding avoidance at the gamete level despite inbreeding depression in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Patterns of sperm swimming behaviour depend on male mating tactic and spawning environment in chinook salmon.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Synthesis and Scope of the Role of Postmating Prezygotic Isolation in Speciation.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2024Review
- Proteomic analysis reveals dynamic changes in cloacal fluid composition during the reproductive season in a sexually promiscuous passerine.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Despite genetic isolation in sympatry, post-copulatory reproductive barriers have not evolved between bat- and human-associated common bedbugs (Cimex lectularius L.).Frontiers in zoology · 2023Article
- Evolutionary Quantitative Proteomics of Reproductive Protein Divergence in Drosophila.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2023Article
- Can cryptic female choice prevent invasive hybridization in external fertilizing fish?Evolutionary applications · 2023Article
- Sperm competition experiments reveal low prezygotic postmating isolation between parasitic and nonparasitic lamprey ecotypes.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Frequency-dependent viscosity of salmon ovarian fluid has biophysical implications for sperm-egg interactions.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- Article
- Evolutionary consequences of environmental effects on gamete performance.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
- Reproductive interference hampers species coexistence despite conspecific sperm precedence.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- The role of female reproductive fluid in sperm competition.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Ovarian fluid proteome variation associates with sperm swimming speed in an externally fertilizing fish.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2020Article
- Post-ejaculatory modifications to sperm (PEMS).Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite evidence that variation in male-female reproductive compatibility exists in many fertilization systems, identifying mechanisms of cryptic female choice at the gamete level has been a challenge. Here, under risks of genetic incompatibility through hybridization, we show how salmon and trout eggs promote fertilization by conspecific sperm. Using in vitro fertilization experiments that replicate the gametic microenvironment, we find complete interfertility between both species. However, if either species' ova were presented with equivalent numbers of both sperm types, conspecific sperm gained fertilization precedence. Surprisingly, the species' identity of the eggs did not explain this cryptic female choice, which instead was primarily controlled by conspecific ovarian fluid, a semiviscous, protein-rich solution that bathes the eggs and is released at spawning. Video analyses revealed that ovarian fluid doubled sperm motile life span and straightened swimming trajectory, behaviors allowing chemoattraction up a concentration gradient. To confirm chemoattraction, cell migration tests through membranes containing pores that approximated to the egg micropyle showed that conspecific ovarian fluid attracted many more spermatozoa through the membrane, compared with heterospecific fluid or water. These combined findings together identify how cryptic female choice can evolve at the gamete level and promote reproductive isolation, mediated by a specific chemoattractive influence of ovarian fluid on sperm swimming behavior.
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