ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2018
Rival seminal fluid induces enhanced sperm motility in a polyandrous ant.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Silent cells? Potential for context-dependent gene expression in mature sperm.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- The effect of seminal fluid gene expression on paternity.Evolution letters · 2023Article
- Article
- Methodological considerations for examining the relationship between sperm morphology and motility.Molecular reproduction and development · 2020Review
- Post-ejaculatory modifications to sperm (PEMS).Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2020Review
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPromiscuous mating and sperm competition often induce arms races between the sexes with detrimental outcomes for females. However, ants with multiply-inseminated queens have only a single time-window for sperm competition and queens are predicted to gain control over the outcome of sperm storage quickly. The seminal fluid of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants reduces the viability of rival sperm, but how confrontations between unrelated ejaculates affect sperm storage remains unknown.
resultsWe investigated the effects of ejaculate admixture on sperm motility in A. echinatior and found that the proportion of motile spermatozoa, sperm swimming speed, and linearity of sperm movement increased when rival ejaculates were mixed in vitro. Major effects induced by the seminal fluid of rival males were of similar magnitude to those generated by queen reproductive tract secretions, whereas own seminal fluid induced lower sperm activation levels.
conclusionsOur results suggest that ant sperm respond via a self-non-self recognition mechanism to similar or shared molecules expressed in the reproductive secretions of both sexes. Lower sperm motility in the presence of own seminal fluid indicates that enhanced motility is costly and may trade-off with sperm viability during sperm storage, consistent with studies in vertebrates. Our results imply that ant spermatozoa have evolved to adjust their energetic expenditure during insemination depending on the perceived level of sperm competition.
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