ArticlePLoS genetics2022
Post-insemination selection dominates pre-insemination selection in driving rapid evolution of male competitive ability.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- First Insight Into Multiple Paternity in the Potato Cyst NematodeEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- Precise lineage tracking using molecular barcodes demonstrates fitness trade-offs for ivermectin resistance in nematodes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic Sexual Conflict at Two Evolutionary Timescales Revealed by Experimental Evolution in Caenorhabditis elegans.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Expansion of the split hygromycin toolkit for transgene insertion inmicroPublication biology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Sexual reproduction is a complex process that contributes to differences between the sexes and divergence between species. From a male's perspective, sexual selection can optimize reproductive success by acting on the variance in mating success (pre-insemination selection) as well as the variance in fertilization success (post-insemination selection). The balance between pre- and post-insemination selection has not yet been investigated using a strong hypothesis-testing framework that directly quantifies the effects of post-insemination selection on the evolution of reproductive success. Here we use experimental evolution of a uniquely engineered genetic system that allows sperm production to be turned off and on in obligate male-female populations of Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that enhanced post-insemination competition increases the efficacy of selection and surpasses pre-insemination sexual selection in driving a polygenic response in male reproductive success. We find that after 10 selective events occurring over 30 generations post-insemination selection increased male reproductive success by an average of 5- to 7-fold. Contrary to expectation, enhanced pre-insemination competition hindered selection and slowed the rate of evolution. Furthermore, we found that post-insemination selection resulted in a strong polygenic response at the whole-genome level. Our results demonstrate that post-insemination sexual selection plays a critical role in the rapid optimization of male reproductive fitness. Therefore, explicit consideration should be given to post-insemination dynamics when considering the population effects of sexual selection.
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