ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2017
Trade-off between carotenoid-based sexual ornamentation and sperm resistance to oxidative challenge.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- The STK11 gene F354L mutation is associated with male spermatogenic dysfunction.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Relationships between Pre- and Postcopulatory Sexually Selected Traits in Green Frogs (Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- The impact of diet quality on the velocity, morphology and normality of sperm in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022Article
- Relationships between male secondary sexual traits, physiological state and offspring viability in the three-spined stickleback.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- What do orange spots reveal about male (and female) guppies? A test using correlated responses to selection.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2021Article
- Impact of Oxidative Stress on Male Reproduction in Domestic and Wild Animals.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Oviductal fluid counterbalances the negative effect of high temperature on sperm in an ectotherm model.Biology open · 2021Article
- Environment-induced changes in reproductive strategies and their transgenerational effects in the three-spined stickleback.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- The role of oxidative stress in postcopulatory selection.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Experimental manipulation of reproductive tactics in Seba's short-tailed bats: consequences on sperm quality and oxidative status.Current zoology · 2019Article
- Enhanced ambient UVB radiation affects post-mating, but not pre-mating sexual traits in a fish.Oecologia · 2019Article
- Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.PloS one · 2019Article
- Trade-off between carotenoid-based sexual ornamentation and sperm resistance to oxidative challenge.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that carotenoid-based sexual ornamentation signals male fertility and sperm competitive ability as both ornamentation and sperm traits may be co-affected by oxidative stress, resulting in positive covariation (the 'redox-based phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis'; redox-based PLFH). On the other hand, the 'sperm competition theory' (SCT) predicts a trade-off between precopulatory and postcopulatory traits. Here, we manipulate oxidative status (using diquat dibromide) and carotenoid availability in adult zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) males in order to test whether carotenoid-based beak ornamentation signals, or is traded off against, sperm resistance to oxidative challenge. Initial beak colouration, but not its change during the experiment, was associated with effect of oxidative challenge on sperm velocity, such that more intense colouration predicted an increase in sperm velocity under control conditions but a decline under oxidative challenge. This suggests a long-term trade-off between ornament expression and sperm resistance to oxidative challenge. Shortening of the sperm midpiece following oxidative challenge further suggests that redox homeostasis may constrain sperm morphometry. Carotenoid supplementation resulted in fewer sperm abnormalities but had no effect on other sperm traits. Overall, our data challenge the redox-based PLFH, partially support the SCT and highlight the importance of carotenoids for normal sperm morphology.
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